Finding Peace
by If Anyone Knew I Would
Summary: Fang, Max and Iggy are all fighting for one thing in life, Peace. Through the chaos and confusion that comes with living with Werewolves and Fang being related to Alice and the School at their heals they'll find the middle ground. Sequel to Finding Home.
1. Almost Crash

Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**(Fang's POV)**

Ever since I hugged Max in my room after she found out about Iggy's parents I've felt so… free. I felt so relaxed and at peace, I loved it. I felt whole, like I'd never lost my parents or had to deal with any of that pain and hurt.

It was the next day and I held her hand as we walked down the hall. She rested her head on my shoulder and I smiled at her.

Iggy was on my other side. "Have you seen Kari?" He asked me. I swear Iggy was whipped and he wasn't even with her yet.

I sighed, "No, we just got here. I'm sure she's fine though Iggy." It was Friday and I knew he was worried about the weekend. The two days where he'd not see her and be able to make sure she was okay were going to kill him.

Iggy sniggered, "Did you know that people keep looking at you guys?" He asked us and I looked up at him.

"What?" Max asked startled as if she came out of a train of thought.

"Well girls look at Fang and they're like… swooning or whatever and glare at Max, and then it's the same with guys… but you know the other way around," he said as if it was obvious.

I laughed, "I guess I didn't notice," I said my hand unwrapping from hers and going around her waist, pulling her closer.

I saw Kari down the hall with a sad expression. I looked at Iggy, he looked so sad to he see her sad. "I've got to tell her," he said softly.

"Iggy," I said looking him in the eyes, "Tell her when you're ready…."

He smiled at me slightly, "Don't worry, I am," he said and ran off to talk to her.

I looked down at Max to see her smiling, "Come on, we should get to class."

We walked to class, we had class with Iggy but he wasn't there, I guessed that he and Kari were talking somewhere and that thought made me smile.

At lunch I waited for Iggy to show up to talk to him and ask him if he told Kari, which he most likely did, and I grinned broadly when they walked in together. We waved them over instantly.

**(Iggy's POV)**

My eyes were still kind of red and itched from last night. I couldn't believe I'd fallen apart like that. I walked right up to Kari and said, "I need to speak to you." There was pain and stress in my voice.

She stared at me, shocked by my forwardness. She looked me over, she must have heard the tone in my voice and she looked into my eyes, and I knew she could see their redness. "Okay," she said simply.

"Do you mind skipping first block?" I asked in a whisper. "I might need a while to say this."

She nodded, "I don't mind." She paused, smiling, but only slightly, "Come on, let's go somewhere quiet." She said and she led me outside and we walked through the school yard. We were silent the whole time. She led me to a place far from any window or building but still on school property. It was completely silent and by the trees and it felt very private.

"What do you want to talk to me about?" She asked as she sat down on the grass. I sat with her.

I took a deep breath, "I know about your dad," I started.

She stared at me, fear and shock in her beautiful eyes, "What?"

I looked down, "The first day I met you I followed you home… I'd seen that look in his eyes. You know the look they get before they hit you. Well I followed you home and I saw him hit you and I…" Tears were at the edge at my eyes at just the thought of someone hitting her. My thoughts started to linger towards my dad and I shut it all out. I didn't want to think about that. That was the last thing I wanted to think about.

"Iggy, oh my God, I'm so sorry you had to see that." She said tears at the edges of her eyes. "I'll understand if you like… don't want to be near me or whatever." She said tears cascading down her face now.

My own tears fell from my eyes. I would always want to be near her, it was her that should want to not be near me. "No, Kari, I want to be near you, I always want to be near you," I took her face in my hands and wiped away her tears. "Kari, there's something I need to tell you," I said and my tears fell harder.

I looked down, _what if she didn't like me because of my parents?_

"What is it?" she asked. I looked up at her beautiful eyes. The fear I felt before was gone, I knew she wouldn't be like that. She couldn't be like that; at least that's what I told myself.

"Remember how you said that your dad was strict, and I said my dad is similar to yours?" I asked her and she nodded. "Well… my dad… well you know… he like… does the same thing." I said trying to find the words.

Her eyes shot wide; "Really?" obviously she was surprised. I nodded, looking down. "Wow," She said. She looked up into my eyes. "Is it weird that I'm really happy to know that about you?" she asked me.

I smiled her, I pulled her into a hug, resting my head on top of hers, "No, because I feel the same." I said with a smile. I felt so relieved now that she knew.

"What should we talk about now?" She asked me.

I shrugged, "Do you want to tell me anything about your situation?"

I could feel her laughing lightly. "Not really… do you?" She asked.

I took a deep breath; I figured I should tell her this part. "Well, I guess I should tell you that only Fang and Max know about my parents, and I only told Max last night. Fang's known for a couple days, he wanted me to tell Max, but he's a loyal bastard and I made him promise not to say a word." I laughed lightly and I heard her giggled, the most beautiful sound in the world.

"That's what we were arguing about a bit, he wanted to tell Max but I wouldn't let him and he was worried because my parents have been thinking of coming up here and getting me. So Max would let them, because she didn't know. That's why I had to tell her," I added.

"So your parents might come and take you away?" Kari asked sadly as she continued to lie on my chest.

I shrugged, "I guess, I won't go quietly though, that's for sure."

She pulled away to look into my eyes, "So, what is the plan… for my dad I mean…" she whispered.

"Well… we're not quite sure, we mostly just wanted to let you know we're here, and if you want to turn him in you can and you can stay with us. You can stay with us now if you want too…" I said scratching the back of my head. She nodded.

Kari and I continued to talk and when we heard the lunch bell. "Well we should go see the others. They're probably freaking out," she said with a smile.

"Ya okay," I said and helped her up. We checked each other to make sure we were presentable. "Kari?" I asked as we walked.

"Yes," she said looking up at me.

I chickened out, I was going to tell her that I liked her, but I couldn't do it. "Nothing…" I muttered.

"Iggy, what is it?" She urged taking my hand.

"It's nothing, I was just going to ask you something, but it's okay…" I said wishing she'd just forget what I said.

"Oh, okay, well I was just wondering if I could stay at your house this weekend… since you know about my dad and all..." She said trailing off.

"Of course you can," I said with a smile.

"Thanks, I don't want to freak you out or anything, but it's just that I feel comfortable around you, maybe because you've been through the same thing, but it makes me feel better…" She said.

I took her hand, "I'm glad you feel that way," I whispered in her ear as we entered the cafeteria. Our table looked up and smiled at us.

We sat down with them and I told them that Kari was going to spend the weekend at our house. They all nodded as if they expected that, which they probably did.

**(Fang's POV)**

In drama Kari sat with us again and Mrs. Dillwyn ran over, "I have some bad news."

"What is it?" Jim asked suddenly alert. He'd been lying down staring at the ceiling when she came over.

"Well someone asked me yesterday after the movie if they could use the song I wanted you to use during the talent show. It's kind of first come first serve, so I had to give the song to them, but I have another idea, and you need someone who's young and can sing…" Mrs. Dillwyn said and we nodded and started to plan.

When class ended, we had it pretty much all planned out. I was going to play piano and sing during the song, but I didn't really mind. I actually liked the song; it was pretty close to my life.

We walked out of the classroom and Kari looked at Iggy, fear in her eyes, "My dad is picking me up, how am I supposed to get to your house?" She asked.

"I'll drive you Kari," Jim said, "I'm heading over there anyways." Casey nodded taking Jim's hand.

Kari whispered something to Iggy and he nodded and took Kari's hand, "Jim, can you bring the car around so we can just get in and go?" he asked Jim and he nodded and Jim and Casey left to get the car.

"I take it we're getting home without you…" Max said with a smile.

Iggy smiled, "Ya, I know how Fang hates cars."

My face paled at the thought of cars. I was thankful no one was in the hallway and they couldn't see my face.

"Whoa, Fang, get embarrassed or something you sheet of paper," Iggy teased.

I snapped out of it and glared at him, "Nice Iggy."

Max kissed my cheek and I breathed in deeply and let my fear leave with my breath.

I gained a little colour back as Jim and Casey pulled up. "Okay, come on," Max said and we headed for the car.

We walked out together and my eyes across the crowds of people. I was looking for Kari's dad's car; I could remember what it was like from yesterday.

Kari and Iggy closed the car door just before Jim shot across the blacktop. I stood there with Max, watching them go. I watched as they stopped at the stop sign before the road. I looked down the row of cars, there was Jim's car, 2 cars and then I froze.

Kari's dad's car was right there and he was, without a doubt, going to follow them.

I took off running right away. I ran across the parking lot, with Max yelling and following right behind me. I didn't know what she was saying nor did I care right now. She started practically screaming at me as I ignored her and every head in the cars turned to look at me.

Jim rolled down his window quickly and I screamed at him, "Go!" because Kari's dad looked like he was debating getting out his car because everyone had stopped.

Kari suddenly said something in a panicked tone and Jim's tires smoked as he shot forward and away. I stared in horror as they stopped at the first streetlight. They were only a few metres away from the parking lot exit. All of them, except Jim who was watching the traffic lights, spun around to look at the parking lot.

Max screamed at me so loudly that it hurt my ears and tried to grab my shirt as I ran towards the cars. One of the cars pulled out of the parking lot before I reached the cars. The other car was just pulling forward to go.

I took in a deep breath and set my fears aside as I did one the most terrifying thing I'd ever done. Even though I'd done crazy, scarier things, this had me shaking as I ran, mostly because I knew the risks of me doing this. I ran right in front of the car.

There were 2 people in the car, a guy and a girl, and they screamed in surprise and the car lurched to a stop, just inches before it hit my legs. They were in my grade and I stood there breathing hard for a second. My whole body shaking at what I'd done, they could have quite literally run me over, and God knows how scared of cars I was already.

Max stood off to the side, frozen in shock, fear and surprise.

"What are you doing!?" the guy driving yelled at me through the rolled down window.

"Uh…" I struggled to come up with a reason I ran in front of them. Kari's dad beeped his horn impatiently. I suddenly got an idea, "Watch where you're going!" I yelled and Max's eyes widened in surprise.

"What the hell are you talking about? You ran right in front of me!" He yelled at me, suddenly angry.

"What are you talking about!? It's a stop sign you have to stop you dimwit!" I yelled back. I looked over at the light which had changed and Jim drove off quickly. I could see that the others were staring at me still in shock.

Kari's dad beeped the horn again. "I didn't know you were going to run in front of the car you idiot! Get out of the way!" He yelled at me.

I smiled slightly, I had given Jim enough time to get a few blocks away now, "Okay, sorry, ya I know, it's my fault." I said and stepped aside.

The guy looked at me in shock and muttered thanks and inched forward. Max went around the back of the car and the two of us ran into the forest. I glanced back to see Kari's dad fuming in his car as he pulled forward and onto the street. Max and I took off when we were hidden far enough in the trees and headed for home.


	2. Bringing Home the New Girl

**Chapter 2  
(Iggy's POV)**

Jim's car shot forward out of the parking lot and he cursed as he had to wait at a stoplight. Casey, Kari and I all spun around to see what would happen.

The car behind us went the other way and the one behind it was starting forward and was nearly pulling away when Fang ran in front of it. Max screamed so loudly I was tempted to cover my ears. For that instant where Fang stood in front of the car with it still going forward slightly made my stomach drop.

The drive slammed on the break just in time and I stared in shock. My heart swelled with emotions as I saw one of my best friends do something that he was absolutely terrified of.

Max stood off to the side, and she glanced over at us. The driver said something to Fang and Kari's dad beeped his horn.

Suddenly Fang was yelling at the driver. I couldn't really think clearly enough to hear what he was saying, but the driver looked angry. He yelled something back at my friend who was 1000 times braver than me. Fang started to yell back at him, but Jim's car shot forward and took off down the street at an almost alarming speed.

Kari looked at me with eyes that seemed almost tired. "Iggy," she said softly.

I nodded, "Ya, Kari."

"Did Fang's parents really die in car crashes… and was he really in the car with his mom?" She asked quietly.

"Uh, ya," I said slowly and looked out the window. I noticed that Jim's hands tightened on the steering wheel and Casey stared out the window with a sad expression.

She heard her take a deep breath, "Then why would he risk his life to help me, a girl he hardly knows, by jumping in front of a car, when he's completely terrified of them?" From the way she said it I knew she didn't feel worthy of Fang's bravery.

"Kari, although Fang knows practically nothing about you," Jim said slowly, "He considers you his friend, and Fang will do anything for his friends." I could hear the gratitude in his voice.

"Why?" Kari asked looking confused.

Casey sighed, "Because it's the only thing he's got left, that's why," she continued to stare out the window with a sad expression and Kari looked out the window too, her expression nearly mirrored Casey's.

I leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes. Eventually we made it to our house and we all climbed out.

"This is your house?" Kari asked with wide eyes.

"Ya, I'm just going to tell Alison and Jacob you guys are here." I said as I headed into the house.

Jim and Casey sat on the front steps, probably waiting for Fang and Max, but Kari followed me inside.

Alison was in the kitchen, she was cooking again and Lilith was sitting looking impatiently up at the clock on the wall for some reason. I heard them as we walked in.

"Can I have some now?" Lilith asked.

I heard Alison chuckle, "No, they're still too warm."

"Oh…" Lilith paused for a moment, "what about now?"

Alison laughed a little harder, "No, hey Iggy, who's this?" She asked me.

"This is Kari, is it alright if she stays with us for a few days?" I said. Alison smile and nodded and I noticed a huge amount of chocolate chip cookies on a cooling rack. "Kari, this is Alison and Lilith."

"Hello," Kari said shyly.

Lili grinned at her, "Hi Kari, I'm Lili, Fang's little sister." She looked over at me.

I nodded, "She knows about the flock," I said bluntly.

Alison grinned as she stirred something, "Fang let it slip, again?"

"No, it was me this time," I laughed.

Lili bounced in her seat, giggling, "Well that's good. Is Fang here?" She asked still bouncing.

I shook my head, "He'll be here soon," I said sitting at the table, Kari sitting down next to me.

Fang strolled into the house not five seconds after I said that and called over to us, "Hey, Max and I are home."

"Fang!" Lili yelled jumping from her chair and ran over to him.

I saw him grin as he picked her up. He walked back into the kitchen and set her back on the chair as he went to the fridge. "Hey Lili, how was your day?" he asked her as he searched through the fridge for something.

"It was okay, boring mostly, Alison and I baked cookies though, so it was good, but you can't eat them yet 'cause they're too hot 'cause they just came out of the oven." Lilith said her feet swinging under the table and I saw Kari smile as she watched her.

Fang poured two glasses of milk and picked up a cookie. He took a bite and Lilith frown at him; she looked like she might get angry at him for eating one her cookies and I smiled at her. He wordlessly picked up one of the biggest ones and set it down on the table in front of Lilith with a glass of milk. "It'll be fine with milk," he told her as he sat down beside her.

She grinned and broke the cookie and started to dunk it in the milk. Alison shook her head at him, "You spoil her too much."

Fang just shrugged and took a bite of his cookie.

Casey, Jim and Max all entered the kitchen and Max's face lit up at the sight of cookies; she made a beeline for them.

"Oh my God, these are like my moms' cookies!" Max squealed.

"Ya, I got her to give me the recipe…" Alison said slowly and Max looked like she might hug her.

Alison placed the cookies on a plate, seeing as we weren't waiting for them to cool anymore, and we all sat around and hung out.

**(Fang's POV)**

We sat around at the table and ate cookies. I noticed Lilith copying me. I took my cookie and dunked it in the milk and she watched me and did the same. Everyone at the table watched us for a second. I placed the cookie on the table and sat back and waited for her to crack.

It took her five minutes before she looked at me, stuck her tongue out and ate the cookie. She took a few and her milk and vanished upstairs. I laughed and shook my head, she's so funny sometimes.

"How old is she?" Kari asked with a smile.

"4, maybe 5," I answered. Kari's head fell to the side in confusion, "Well I found her at the school so we're not really sure how old she is or when her birthday is," I explained.

"So, she's not really you sister," Kari asked with a raised eyebrow.

I laughed, "Not biologically, but I'm the only thing she's got, so she calls me her brother." I shrugged and picked up another other cookie.

After a moment I looked around, "Hey, where's Jacob and Emeric?"

"Oh," Alison said, "Jacob's with the pack doing recon or something and Emeric's pack is having a meeting of some sort."

"Oh, okay. I just wanted to ask if they'd seen Randle around here," I said drawing a picture on the table with a droplet of milk.

"Alright, well I got to set the table, so why don't you guys head upstairs," Alison said with a smile. Evidently she wanted to steer us away from any talk of Randle, either that or she really did need to set the table.

We nodded and headed upstairs, we went to Max's room and listened to music and talked about whatever came to our minds.

Casey's phone rang and Max reached over and pushed pause on the song as she picked it up. "Hey… hi mom… ya I'll be home by 11 at the latest… I'm at Nick's house…." She paused for a minute. Her face got slowly angrier, "Mom, Jim is not a bad person!" She hissed into the phone.

Jim hung his head, and Kari whispered something to Iggy and Iggy whispered back. I figured she was asking if Casey's mom liked Jim and he was just answering her.

"Whatever, I'll see you at home," She hung up and sat on Jim's lap, her mouth in a slight pout, "I hate it when she gets like that."

Jim patted her back, "Well she's kind of right, I do stupid stuff all the time…" he muttered.

She groaned, "Not you too."

"I'm just saying-"

"And I'm just saying that I don't care."

Jim smiled down at her slightly, "Well I guess I'll have to live with that."

Max put on the music again and we continued talking.

I heard the door open and close downstairs and I jumped up. I wanted to know if the pack or Emeric's pack had seen Randle around.

I excused myself and ran downstairs. Emeric was sitting on the couch, "Hey, did you get back from talking with your pack?" I asked him from the stairs.

He nodded slowly; he looked kind of tense, almost like he was upset about something. "Did you see Randle around anywhere?" I asked him. He shook his head, that tense, upset look still in his eyes.

I nodded, "Okay, well… see you at dinner…." I said and walked back upstairs. I wondered what was wrong with him, but I figured it wasn't my business so I let him be.

As I walked down the hall I heard soft singing and I frowned, it wasn't coming from Max's room. I headed for Lilith's room; as far as I knew she was the only one on this floor.

I opened her door without making any noise and she was sitting on her bed and singing as she looked out it.

I stared at her; no way could she have that kind of voice for someone as young as her. I quietly left her room and ran over to Max's room. "You guys got to hear this," I said and they followed me to Lili's room. I slowly opened the door and we listened to her sing.

"Wow, you've got an amazing voice Lilith," Casey said with a grin and Lilith jumped and yelped in surprise.

I laughed and she looked us with shock. "Oh… hi… I was just singing…."

"We know, and it was really good," Max said with a smile.

She blushed and shrugged, "Thanks Max."

"Well, we'll call you when it's dinner, okay?" I said and she nodded.

We walked down the hall and went back to Max's room. Jacob came home soon after that and dinner was right after.

That night I sat on my bed and thought about stuff. I sighed and opened my window and climbed to the edge of the sill. I opened my wings a little and shot out of the room. I flew around that night, yes it was stupid with Randle around, but I needed to let go of my worries.

Graduation was in a few weeks and the talent show was in a week and how we were going to pull it off was a complete mystery to me. The school is loose and I missed Alice and the Cullens so much I felt like screaming. I sighed and headed back home.


	3. Looking For Lilith

**OKAY!! SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG! Seriously, this chapter has frustrated me so much... grr it still doesn't sound right, but oh well HERE WE GO!**

**READ AWAY!**

**Chapter 3  
(Fang's POV)**

The next two days went smoothly and normally, nothing crazy happened, we went to the beach and hung out around La Push.

On Sunday Iggy got a call from his parents and he talked on the phone for a good half an hour in his room, totally alone, and demanding that no one listen in.

When he came back out he looked a little distressed and he seemed a little shut inside himself, but after a few hours he'd gotten pretty much back to normal.

That night I plopped down beside him on the couch, he was staring at the TV without seeing it. Everyone else had gone up to bed.

"Hey, so what did your parents want?" I asked him carefully. I didn't want to pressure him into telling me or make him upset.

He sighed, "They said that they're going to come up and get me soon."

"Did they ask if we knew?" I asked him, worried for him.

He shook his head, "But I don't think that would stop them anyways."

I rubbed his shoulder. Iggy looking at his hands, "Do you know when?" I asked him. He shook his head and I patted his back. "Don't worry; I won't let them take you back."

He turned his head and looked me straight in the eyes. They chilled me to the bone, they looked empty. They looked dead, and when he spoke his voice sounded dead, not monotone, but just… dead, "Fang, this is truly not something you can stop. Like a hurricane, or an earthquake, like death." I felt like he'd dropped ice into the pit of my stomach. Death wasn't a subject Iggy usually brought up, especially around me. "You can't stop them, no one can."

With that he got up and left me to think, the ice was still in the pit of my stomach. I shook off the feeling. I got up to go to bed and as I walked to the stairs I caught sight of someone in the kitchen.

Emeric stood there, looking out at me calmly.

I looked back, the ice was slowly thawing, but my face felt like the blood had drained from it. I looked away and went up the stairs.

On Monday at school in drama we were all lying around and planning the talent show. We would practice but we needed someone with a young voice and Mrs. Dillwyn said she'd check out the younger school to see who she could find.

"Oh my God, we're a bunch of idiots!" Kari said slapping her hand against her forehead, "Lilith could sing with us!"

We all stared at her for a few moments before we all groaned and smacked ourselves around for not thinking of that earlier.

I had to practice a new song on the piano and I spent a bit of class trying to figure out how to play it.

I couldn't wait to go home and ask Lilith if she wanted to sing with us. The talent show was in a few days but I was sure she'd be able to remember the song.

**(Iggy's POV)**

I stood in the parking lot waiting for the others to catch up, it was after school and I could see the other kids milling around getting into cars or talking with friends, or walking home.

I sighed, my mind was consumed with the danger that wasn't in front of me, but was looming in the distant future.

My parents were coming to take me home.

There were so many emotions that were triggered from that sentence. There was pain; I didn't want to leave Forks, Max or Fang. I knew if I did go I'd be hurt. I didn't want to leave Kari behind here to face her dad alone. There was depression; the thought of leaving could kill me alone, the idea that I might not see these people for a very long time made my whole world shatter into millions of tiny desperate pieces. I was also angry, what did they want me for anyways? My father was a constant campaigner of the fact that I was useless.

Two questions arose inside too, why couldn't I fight back? Why was I afraid to tell someone? They triggered others, and those triggered others and so on and so forth.

I think I know what one of my bombs feels like now, everything was slowly bubbling up inside of me, and one day I was going to explode.

Someone suddenly, or it seemed like suddenly, grabbed my shoulder and I jumped. I looked to see who it was, a trickle of ice cold fear sliding down my spine, which was quickly disintegrated when I realized it was just Fang. I tried to smile at him, but I couldn't really do it.

He sent me a small smile in return and looked away, back towards the others who were on their way. "So, since your 18 you technically don't have to live at home," Casey was trying to explain to Kari, "Which means that if he reports you as missing, all you say is that you're just no longer living at home and that your dad is losing his mind or something."

"What if he comes looking for me though?"

"So what? You're among good friends, I'd like to see any human try to take down Fang, Max or Iggy," Jim said in a low voice to make sure no one heard.

"Or Fang, Max and Iggy," Casey said nodding and he nodded as well.

Kari smiled as she reached me, "Ya, I guess you're right, he can't really do anything…" She said and took my hand. I was able to smile a little at her.

**(Fang's POV)**

Across the parking lot two things caught my eye. Kari's dad stood against the side of his car as he watched us from the far end of it. He was well out of the way and if I hadn't been looking I wouldn't have seen it.

The other was Randle. He stood in the woods grinning at me. I swallowed, seeing him should have scared me more, but I felt oddly calm. "Kari, come with me." I said and took her hand and pulled her back towards school as I looked over my shoulder at the two of them.

Iggy turned quickly and asked with a bit of urgency in his voice, "F-Nick, where are you going?"

"Well unless you want two people who are near the top of our bad list to know where we live I recommend we take a different route," I said as I pulled Kari into the building with me. I held the door open and said, "Max, Iggy, Randle's standing on the far end of the parking lot and Kari's dad's car is parked over there."

Kari stared at me, fear in her eyes, "My dad's here? He's going to be really angry, Fang, I can't do this!" She whispered, "Please, I can't do this. He's going to be angry!" Her eyes watered and her breathing picked up.

"Hey, hey, Kari, listen to me… it's not your dad you have to worry about alright? I've got this under control. I can take your dad; it's Randle I'm worried about. So come on, and if I tell you to run, run." I said holding onto her shoulders and she nodded quickly.

I ran with her down the hallway. I cast a glance back and I saw Randle push open the door. "Run!" I yelled at Kari and we turned the corner and ran for it. I saw an exit sign, "Kari, I want you to go outside that door and get out of sight, I'll come back for you," I said pushing her towards the door.

"Fang, no, I can't, what if my dad comes," Kari said, starting to panic.

"Kari, I promise you, I'll be back. I just need to get rid of Randle," I said and I heard his footsteps, "Go!" I hissed and she ran through the door just before Randle rounded the corner.

"Fang, Fang, Fang," He muttered as I turned to face him. "You know better than to run." I slowly took steps back as he approached me. "Now, I know you've got a whole issue with me… but I'm not after you today."

I watched him; I didn't believe him for a second. He was constantly hunting me; of course he wanted to catch me… didn't he? "Than who is it about?"

"All I want is the girl you helped escape from the school, 013," Randle said and I froze.

"Lilith," The word escaped my lips and I froze in place.

"Yes, if you just hand her over the school will stop chasing you, they want to find a way to harness her power," Randle said taking steps forward.

I was shaking slightly; pictures of my adopted sister were flying through my head. My mind seemed to pause on her smiling face as she ran towards me. I couldn't believe he would think that I would hand her over like that. Lilith was a part of my messed up family now, there was no way I was going to put her in harm. I chuckled, "You think I'll just give her to you?"

"Well, either you'll give her to me, or I'll eventually figure out where she is. Fang, tell me where she is." He said sternly and he was very close to me now.

I took two hurried steps back from him, "I don't know where she is," I said feeling kind of breathless.

"Tell me where Lilith is!" He yelled at me, grabbing the front of my shirt.

"I don't know where she is!" I yelled back, I was lying through my teeth and he knew it but I wasn't going to risk her life by admitting for a second I knew where she was exactly.

"Yes you do!" He growled at me, pulling my closer so that our faces were inches apart and my feet were having a hard time finding the ground about now. "Tell me where Lilith is before I break every bone in your body!"

A voice cut him off, "Hey! What are you doing?" I've never been happier to see Mrs. Dillwyn in my life.

Randle glared at me and let me go at once and ran off down the hall. My legs actually collapsed under me and I sat there and breathing hard as Mrs. Dillwyn ran over to me.

She knelt by me, "Are you okay Nick?" She asked with a frantic look in her eyes.

It was in that moment that I knew I needed to keep Lilith safe no matter what. I let my face fall into my hands and Mrs. Dillwyn was still for a moment before rubbing my back. "What did that guy want Nick?" She asked in a tone that I knew she meant no nonsense.

I contemplated lying for a few seconds, but she had said I could talk to her about anything….

I sighed and ran my hands through my hair, "It's nothing really…" I muttered, my paranoia talking, but I knew she wouldn't believe me.

"Lilith is your little sister right?" She asked me.

I sighed and nodded.

"So, why does he want to know where she is?" Mrs. Dillwyn asked me.

I sighed, "I don't know…" I felt so helpless not knowing for sure what they had in store for her. What they really wanted to do to her to 'harness her power' as Randle put it.

"You sure?" she asked looking me in the eyes.

I sighed and ran my hands through my hair again, there was something about doing that that made me less stressed, "Ya," I said through my teeth, "And it's really annoying."

She nodded and I suddenly remembered Kari. I jumped up and Mrs. Dillwyn jumped back in surprise. I ran over to the door and opened it. "Kari!" I called holding the door open and looking around to find her.

She ran around the corner and she looked relieved to see me, "Is that guy gone?" I nodded, "What did he want?" She asked walking into the hall and she seemed a little surprised to see Mrs. Dillwyn but she didn't say anything.

"Don't know," I said sighing. "He usually wants something though."

"What has he wanted before?" Mrs. Dillwyn asked staring at me.

"I don't know, in the past he has always wanted me to go back… to a certain place, and he would do anything to get me there…," I said and I knew Kari got what I meant. She watched me.

"What place?" Mrs. Dillwyn asked looking confused.

I looked away from here, "Just a place," I muttered and looked at Kari, "Okay, I think your dad probably left, so we can go now… although we don't really have a way to get back to my house," I said.

Mrs. Dillwyn frowned and looked between us, "What's going on?" she asked sternly.

Kari froze, "Nick, Iggy promised me that I didn't have to tell people…" She whispered in my ear.

I nodded, "I can tell her if you want…" I muttered.

She shifted feet and bit her lip; she closed her eyes, "If I have a place to stay and people to take care of me… than yes."

I took a deep breath, Mrs. Dillwyn waited silently for me to talk. "Are you sure Kari?" I asked her. I didn't want her to rush into anything she didn't want to do.

She sighed, "No… I need Iggy to be here…."

I nodded, and Mrs. Dillwyn looked confused, "Sorry Mrs. Dillwyn, maybe tomorrow I'll have more answers for you," I said with a sigh.

"Nick, how are we getting back to your house? Jim already left…" Kari asked.

I shrugged, "Walk I guess."

Mrs. Dillwyn sighed, "I'll give you a ride."

I bit the inside of my lower lip, "Uh… I'd rather walk…" I muttered.

Mrs. Dillwyn gave me a look like she understood, "I'll drive slowly," She promised and led us out to her car in the staff parking lot.

We climbed into her old car, I didn't see Kari's dad anywhere, I wasn't sure if that was a good sign. I told Mrs. Dillwyn where I lived. I sat in the back with Kari and Mrs. Dillwyn pulled out of the parking lot with her stereo on.

I heard the song on her radio. I recognized it at once. "This is 'I'm A Survivor' by Reba McEntire, right?" I was on the verge of crying, I don't even know why, it was ridiculous. Since when do I cry?

"Ya, it's a nice song…" She muttered.

I nodded, "It was my mom's favorite song," I said and I was surprised to hear that I admitted it out loud as I watched the trees pass.

"Really? Why?" She asked me.

I shrugged, and I was sure she saw it in the rear-view mirror. "She never really told me…. She always loved 'He Gets That From Me' by Reba too," I chuckled, "She said because I reminded her of the kid in the song."

I watched the swirl of green. I missed her so much right then. I was just mesmerized in the green.

"That's sweet," Kari muttered, "My mom died when I was little… I don't really remember her really well."

I looked at Kari, I put a hand on her shoulder, "That's okay, cause she knew you."

Kari looked at me with her head to the side slightly, "What do you mean?"

"Well… my mom used to say that every mother knows her child more than they know themselves, and no matter if they hate each other or love each other or lost each other or forgot each other, their mother will always know every freckle and ever hair." I said with a smile.

Kari smiled at me, "Thanks Nick." She paused for a second, "Well one of the only things I can remember from my mom is her telling me that wherever we are, together or apart, she'll always love me and that if we're apart she'll miss me and that she believes that the time that is spent apart is million times less than the time that we'll spend together." She paused to watch me smile. "So, now I don't miss her as much, because I feel like the time apart won't feel as long when I see her again."

"Thank you Kari," I whispered a smile in my voice, "That doesn't make me miss her so much."

She nodded, "You're welcome."

I sat back and looked out the window, for the first time in a car in a long time I felt calm, and safe, and happy. A smile spread across my lips, now the tears on the edges of my eyes weren't sad. I breathed slowly and calmed my emotions. _Everything was okay_, I thought myself. _I'll see you again mom, I love you_, I thought to her.

I leaned my head against the glass as we pulled onto the driveway to my home.

She packed outside the house and I got out with a smile. Max ran down the steps and crashed into me with a hug. "I'm so glad you're okay, I saw Randle go in after you guys," She whispered in my ear.

I smiled and hugged her back. The tears were back as I hugged Max. "I'm okay Max, I'm okay." I whispered.

She pulled away from me a little and looked at my face, "Are you okay?" She asked quietly.

"Course," I answered right away. "Why?"

"You're crying," she pointed out wiping my cheeks. "What's wrong?"

I smiled, I hadn't even noticed, and oddly enough I didn't really care, "Nothing, they're happy," I answered kissing her forehead, "I just changed my perspective that's all."

"On what?" she whispered still wiping my cheeks from the last of the tears.

I smiled, "I'm going to see my mom again… one day anyways." I said my eyes watering again.

She smiled and kissed me softly, "Of course you will," She said with such confidence that I couldn't help but love her more for it.

I hugged her tightly; we stood there in the driveway swaying slightly as we hugged. I closed my eyes and embraced the momentary calm and peace, because I knew as soon as I let go I'd be back with the chaos and there would be no time for me to think about my mother.

I smiled and Max and I let go. Mrs. Dillwyn and Kari had gone inside already. We walked up to the house, hand in hand and I opened the door and Lilith bound into the room.

I'd never been happier to see her, she ran towards me and I scooped her up and hugged her tightly. Her arms went around my neck and I smiled. "Fang," She whispered, "Fang, you're squishing me."

"Sorry, Lili, it's just today was a little stressful… someone came looking for you." I told her honestly. My hand stroked her brown slightly curly hair and her arms tightened around my neck.

"What?" Max asked her voice edged with panic.

"Randle came looking for Lilith… not for me." I told her and I realized the whole house seemed to tune into our conversation.

Lilith was suddenly squeezing the daylights out of me, "I don't want to go back! I don't! Don't make me!"

I rubbed her back, "I won't Lilith, I promise you. They'd have to kill me first." I promised and she calmed a little and laid her head against my shoulder.

"And Nick is strong like bull, so that isn't going to happen any time soon," Max added to her and I caught the look she gave me. It meant that I had to do what I had to do, but I wasn't allowed to risk my neck.

Mrs. Dillwyn and Alison were talking in the kitchen, about what I wasn't sure, but everyone else was in there too, so I headed over there. I sat with Lilith on my lap, and Max was on my left.

Iggy smiled at me in thanks, probably for getting Kari home. She was sitting on his right and I was sure that they were holding hands under the table.

Jim and Casey were over, again, and they were silent as they sat together.

I looked at Mrs. Dillwyn; she looked at me, "So… I just told Alison about the guy at school… is there anything else you want to tell me Nick or Kari…."

I clenched my jaw as I thought about it, and I saw Kari bite her lip.

"Family meeting, living room," I muttered to Max and she nodded and we both got up. The others followed. Jim and Casey looked kind of hesitant but I waved them to follow.

Alison shrugged at Mrs. Dillwyn and we all met in the living room. We made a kind of huddle and I sighed, "So… Kari, are you doing to tell her?"

Kari shifted her feet, "I told you before… if I have a place to stay and people to take care of me, than… I don't really mind." She said looking at Iggy.

Iggy smiled, "You can stay here Kari…" He looked at Alison for confirmation and she nodded.

Kari smiled, "Than," She took a deep breath, "Than I can do it."

I smiled at her, "Okay, and I wanted to ask if you guys think it would be a good idea if we tell Mrs. Dillwyn about the flock," I whispered.

I read people's faces; they were all debating the idea. I sighed and looked at Max.

Max paused to think about it, "Okay… this is the rare occasion where we're going to vote. If we tell her we'll swear her to secrecy beforehand and if we don't we just won't say anything. Anyone for telling her?" She said.

I cautiously raised my hand, I looked at Max and she seemed to pause before she raised hers too. If she was willing to let her know than I knew it was right. Iggy took a deep breath and raised his too. Jim and Casey raised theirs and Kari smiled and her hand timidly rose and Alison nodded in approval. Lilith grinned and practically shouted, "I think yes!"

Max sighed, "Okay… this is a big step for the three of us and I've never told anyone about us just because we felt like it, but I think it would be good to have someone at school who could help us out from time to time and know what's happening."

I nodded, I sighed as we all wordlessly traveled back to the kitchen. Mrs. Dillwyn had say down and was waiting for us to speak.

"Okay," I said glancing at Max for the last okay before I continued. She nodded to me and I took a deep breath, "Before we tell you anything you have to swear that you're not going to tell anyone about this."

She nodded slowly, "Am I allowed telling my husband?"

"If you can trust him not to tell anyone, than I guess its okay," I said again glancing at Max. She nodded and smiled, from the look in her eyes I knew she was asking me if I wanted her to continue for me. I smiled and took the smallest step back.

"I swear not to tell anyone… except perhaps my husband but he'll take the secret to his grave," She promised.

"Mrs. Dillwyn," Max said, she took a deep breath, "Do you know the meaning of abnormal?" She asked and I smiled.

"Uh… not normal?" she asked clearly not knowing where this was going. Heck I had an idea but I wasn't entirely sure.

"Yes, true they say that every child is different, but I don't think as different as F-Nick," She grinned at me as she nearly slipped with my name, "Iggy and I."

"I'm not following…" She said looking confused.

"Okay," I said and knew there was only one way to get it in the open without making it seriously awkward. "There is really only one way to do this." I said rubbing my hands together. I rolled my shoulders and the people beside me instantly stepped out of the way. My wings inched out, I was so afraid in that moment of her freaking out, but I remained calm on the outside.

My wings reached their full length, I had watched them unfurl the whole time, not even looking at Mrs. Dillwyn once. Lilith reached up and took my hand and I smiled down at her. I looked up at Mrs. Dillwyn for the first time and she was staring at my wings with wide eyes.

"Is this a joke?" She asked immediately.

I flapped my wings and said, "Not unless you find avian experimentation funny."

"Oh my God…. you're… you guys are part of the flock?" She asked with wide eyes.

Max sighed, "I told you that blog of yours was a bad idea… everyone immediately knows you." She was joking but I rolled my eyes anyways.

"It's not my fault I knew who he was right away…" Jim muttered.

"Hey, I gave you a fair amount of hints!" I said tucking in my wings and turning to him. Casey and Kari giggled.

"Fang?" Lilith's little voice distracted me, "How come my wings aren't as big as yours?"

"You're still growing Lili, that's all," I said picking her up and sitting her on the table.

She smiled, "Okay… I thought there might be something wrong with me."

I frowned, "There's nothing wrong with you." I said almost fiercely.

Max sighed, "So you've heard of Fang, Iggy and I, hope that explains a lot." Max said and we began explaining our life, from beginning to end. Some parts were harder to tell than others, the school, my mom's death and the Spanish flu mess.

By the end of it I think we were all pretty rung up with emotions. We didn't tell her about the Cullens, but I really wanted to talk to Alice, she hadn't called in a while.

At the end I looked at Kari and I saw her squeeze Iggy's hand. "Mrs. Dillwyn I need to tell you something and if you can help than you can tell people I guess, but I don't know what it would do…."

"What is it Kari?" Mrs. Dillwyn asked sweetly.

She took a deep breath and looked up at Iggy, "Can you say it for me?" She whispered.

He shook his head, "Only you, Kari, don't worry, I'll always be right here." He whispered back.

She nodded and closed her eyes, "Mrs. Dillwyn my father is physically abusive and that's why Fang was helping me hide." She squeezed his hand so tightly I thought she might break it.

Mrs. Dillwyn looked like she was having too much shock in one day. "Wow… wow… that's serious."

I rolled my eyes, of course it was. I was really proud of Kari. That had to have been hard for her to say.

Lilith looked up at me suddenly, "So… Randle came for me?" She asked and I could see the fear in her eyes.

"Don't worry Lili, I won't let him take you back," I whispered kissing her forehead and she clung to my arm, her lips forming a slight pout and it felt like she was holding in for dear life.

Mrs. Dillwyn smiled a little at me, "So… what is it you want me to do? Why did you tell me about all of this?"

I smiled at my adopted sister, "Nothing really… we just wanted someone at school who knew and was able to help if we needed it."

Kari nodded, "I need someone to… take care of my dad… I think… I don't know… but I just wanted someone to know so that if he came to school to pick me up or something I wouldn't have to go with him."

Mrs. Dillwyn nodded, "Would you like me to report it?"

Kari bit her lip, thinking, "I'm not sure… I'll tell you when I decide."

She nodded, smiled, "Well, I have to get back to town, but I promise you that your secrets are safe with me." She said nodding and she got up. We said goodbye at the door and she left.

I sighed, I wasn't sure that was a good idea to let her know but it was done with now. There was nothing we could do but wait and see what happens.

**A/N: So there you have it... this should be interesting. I'm trying to work the Cullen's back into the story and much as possible at the moment but they WILL be coming back shortly... Do not worry amigos! I has a plan!** **:D**


	4. Talent Show Surprise

**A/N: Hey people, okay... I officially admit it... I need a Beta. Like seriously... so if you know a Beta or are a Beta in need of a story to edit (or three) then PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE MESSAGE ME! I'm begging here! I NEED ONE! My mistakes piss me off! Turst me you have no idea how annoying they are!**

**Okay, I'm REALLY REALLY SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG! But this chapter is really long (14 Microsoft Word pages) so that should be good and lots happens! I PROMISE!!**

**For now, I'll try to promise you faster updating and less spelling mistakes.**

**Oh and ****this is Fang singing, _this is Jim singing_, this is Iggy singing,** this is Max singing, _this is Casey singing, and Kari singing_, this is Lilith singing, _**and this is all of them and is usually in brackets.**_ **This is the** _()girls singing together()_ **and this is )(the boys singing together)(**

**Easiest way to remember is that Boys are Bold and the girls are italic and then the people who like each other are similar. Ex: Iggy is bold underlined and Kari is italic underlined.**

**But for future reference my underline this is being annoying and sometimes doesn't underline stuff I want underlined... it actually stops right were Iggy comes in to sing... so just imagine there's a line there.**

**oh and to those ignored this... ****_READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE!!_**

**otherwise...**

_**READ AWAY!**_

**Chapter 4  
(Fang's POV)**

I walked up the steps of school the next morning with a calm expression. I'd asked Lilith if she'd sing for us and she had jumped at the chance. I think she wanted to prove to me that she could be strong and brave, but it just made her cuter.

I walked through the halls with no expression. I was waiting for the gapes and the whispering and the pointing. Last night my dreams were haunted with the faces of my peers' frightened faces when they learned who I was and what I was. I should have known that news wouldn't travel that fast, but I was worried, what if she told people?

I walked through the halls, feeling slightly insecure, but not showing it. The others had taken the car and I'd flown. I sighed as I approached my locker. I opened it and put away some books I wouldn't need until the afternoon. I sighed and decided to go to the bathroom before class.

I walked over to the nearest bathroom and stood looking at myself in the mirror. No one was in here and I just stared at myself. There were shadows under my eyes and I rubbed some sleep out of my eyes. "Urgh," I groaned, I was so tired. I kept waking up last night and kept dreaming about the faces of my classmates and what everyone would say to me. Even my hair looked limp and dead.

I ran my hands through my hair, trying to make it looked somewhat alive. I gave up trying to look like I was among the living and left for my first class.

The others were there and they looked at me when I entered. Max's eyes went to mine and I sat down beside her. "Are you okay? You looked tired…" She whispered in my ear.

"Ya, I didn't sleep too well last night, but I'm fine," I whispered back.

She took my hand and squeezed it and focused on the teacher.

By drama I was totally wiped out. I was so tired I could just sleep on the piano keys as I sat in front of the piano. The talent show was exactly in two days and I still needed to learn the last few bars of the song.

I sighed and rubbed my eyes, Mrs. Dillwyn cast me a glance and I quickly looked away. I started to play. The words filtered through my head and I smiled as I played.

The presence over my shoulder was instantly known despite my growing drowsiness. "Yes?" I asked as I played.

"Are you alright? You seem tired…" Mrs. Dillwyn said and I could hear the worry in her voice.

"It's nothing I haven't dealt with before," I muttered and yawned.

She sat on the other side of the stool and watched me play, "That's not really the point," She whispered.

"What is?" I was honestly curious. What was the point? To anything really; there was none.

"The point is that sleep helps your mind and body grow and learn." She said sincerely.

"There is nothing here to learn that would help me survive, and if there was, I've already learned it. I'm almost as tall as Jacob; I don't need to grow anymore." I muttered as I finished the last note.

Mrs. Dillwyn pursed her lips. "That's not really the point."

"Then what is?" I growled in frustration. I had to hold myself back from smashing my hands on the keys.

Mrs. Dillwyn seemed surprise by my sudden rush of anger. My fingers began another song I'd known for a long time. I closed my eyes and let it calm me. "Did you tell anyone?" I asked her my eyes still closed.

"About Kari? No I haven't had time to go to the counsellors and talk to them about it," She said quietly.

"I meant about Max, Iggy and I," I said and focused on the keys to calm me.

"No, I told you I wouldn't. I told my husband. He's a doctor and I told him this secret was doctor/patient confidentially worthy," She said casually.

I sighed and all the tension seemed to disappear and my fingers were instantly lighter on the keys, "Thanks."

"Is this why you are stressed and lost sleep?" Mrs. Dillwyn asked suddenly upset.

I opened one eye a crack to glance at her, "Maybe. What's it to you?" I took a deep calming breath to keep my temper and paranoia down.

"F-Nick, jeez," She groaned slightly, "I said your secret is safe with me. Now just relax."

I opened my eyes and the keys slowed to a crawl. I felt my walls going down and I frowned, I quickly worked to build them up again, "Whatever." I muttered and got up. I went around the other side and left her there.

Max looked up at me and patted the spot beside her. I sat and she lay down and I lay down with her. She took my hand, "Fang," She whispered so softly no one had a hope of hearing, "Can you do something for me?" She asked me looking me in the eyes.

"Sure," I answered instantly.

"Close your eyes and get some rest. I'll wake you up if anything happens." The look in her eyes told me she wasn't really asking me to do it.

I sighed and closed my eyes and let myself slip into a needed, dreamless sleep.

I was awoken by the sound of a bell and I jumped. Max patted my arm, "Just the final bell Fang."

I rolled my eyes and sat up, "What happened while Max forced me to knock myself out?" I asked my friends and they laughed.

Max's eyes narrowed at me but she didn't do anything else after. "Nothing much, just planning on how to do it," Casey said.

I nodded as I rubbed sleep out of my eyes. The class was starting to file out. I smiled as my friends and I got up. We filed out the door with the rest of our class.

We left and Max and I flew. It was kind of nice, we just flew calmly home. We had to take all sorts of precautions to make sure Randle didn't follow us, but we got there around the same time.

Lilith ran to me and I picked her up and hugged her to me. "Hey Lili, what did you do today?" I asked her.

"Alison and I went shopping, I got new clothes, I got a dress for the talent show, and I helped her pick out food and I got you a pineapple," She said smiling proudly.

"A pineapple, wow, that's amazing," It had never been so hard to put that tone reserved for little kids in my voice. I was just simply way too tired, "Why'd you get me a pineapple?" I asked her feeling confused.

"Well Max said you like pineapple the best out of all the fruits, other than apples, but we already had apples and they look like you in the morning." She said rambling a little. "You know because you're hair is all sticking up and funny looking," she giggled.

"Well that's right little umpa-lumpa, I do like pineapples, but Max likes pineapple the best. She played you for a sucker," I teased her, tickling her little tummy. Max rolled her eyes, but she had totally tricked Lilith. Max loves pineapple, I like pineapple, but it's true, I like apples better.

"What kind of sucker?" She asked me grinning but looking confused.

I tapped my chin as I walked inside pretending to look thoughtful. "A secret sucker from my secret stash," I whispered knowing what she'd think it was.

"Oh! Is it a lollypop?" She yelled clapping her hands.

"Maybe you'll just have to wait until after dinner to see," I whispered, pretending like it was a big secret. She grinned, "But you'll only get it if you eat all of your dinner and not tell a soul."

She giggled and I set her down, "Alison! Guess what? Fangie is going to give me a lollypop after dinner if I eat all my dinner!"

I sighed and rolled my eyes, "Apparently the concept of 'not telling a soul' has yet to register in her mind," I mumbled.

Max giggled, "You better have lollypops and how come I've never seen this secret stash of candy that you've got?" She asked putting her hands on her hips.

"Because you'd eat it all," I said as if it was obvious, "And what are you doing telling Lilith that I like pineapple? Get over here you little trickster," I said running after her.

She giggled and ran for it, "Hey, Iggy's totally done that before, everyone knows that if you want Lilith to do it just put your name in front of it." Max said as if it was obvious as I chased her around the couch.

I rolled my eyes and I tackled her onto the couch, the both of us burst into hysterics and I started tickling her until she cried. "Fang! No fair!" Max yelled between her laughs and I released her.

I was totally exhausted now. I seriously was in need of a heavy duty nap. I was actually quite comfortable here. I blinked and my eyes didn't open again.

**(Max's POV)**

Okay so I tricked a 4 year old into buying a pineapple, big deal. Iggy got Lilith to buy chips and a two litre pop! I was laughing so hard and I looked down to tell Fang about that when I saw him blink and his eyes just stayed closed.

"Fang!" Lilith yelled and I put my finger to my lips and she was instantly quiet.

"Your silly big brother is very tired," I whispered to her and she nodded, her brown hair bouncing a bit.

I slowly got up and covered him with a blanket, "Come on Lili, let's go cut up some pineapple and leave him to sleep." I whispered and she grinned and nodded. I took her hand and started for the kitchen.

"I've never had pineapple, is it good?" Lilith whispered looking up at me with wide, round eyes.

I nodded, and she giggled and grinned. She ran into the kitchen, she was truly too cute. I needed to call Nudge, Angel and Gazzy again. I was going to surprise the others by bringing them up to see the talent show. I had also talked to Alice and she said that if we could convince the pack then they'd come down too.

Over the next two days we practiced like crazy to do pretty well at the talent show. Mrs. Dillwyn pulled us out of a few classes to practice through the talent show so we had Lilith on call. Basically Alison and Lilith spent the two days in the elementary school playground waiting for us to run out and get them when we needed them.

The weirdest thing happened the other day; we voted for our valedictorian or whatever for graduation, it's going to be the day after the talent show, good planning? I think not, and you'll never guess who was picked… the golden poster boy of Forks, Fang. I nearly pee myself from laughing every time I think about it. I mean Fang isn't that smart is he? All I can say is that this school has a good supply of angry nerds now.

He's constantly been complaining about how he doesn't want to do it, but if you ever mutter a word about him talking to someone about getting someone else to do it he gets all defensive and says he can do it. I swear there is no just reasoning with him when he's like that.

I was so happy, I got the pack to agree to let the Cullens come down and see the talent show. I was so happy about that, I knew Fang missed Alice and I missed them a little too.

The day of the talent show was, well, crazy for lack of a better word. Forks High school was going crazy because the whole town pretty much wanted to go. Mrs. Dillwyn was going crazy trying to organize people and I was going crazy because of Fang's obnoxious complaining about being the valedictorian.

I was in the bathroom with Casey and Kari getting ready. Casey was more excited than Nudge would be. I swear she was going to explode or something. Kari and I were wearing the same abnormally paranoid look on our faces; neither of us liked public attention.

Fang, Jim and Iggy were somewhere in the house downstairs. I wanted to downstairs to see their faces when the Cullens and the rest of the flock walked through the door.

We headed down; I'd told the two girls but had sworn them to secrecy. I ran down the stairs as the doorbell rang. Jim pulled him up from the couch and went to get the door. Fang was sitting with Lilith on his lap and she and him were talking, he looked up at the door as it opened and he stopped saying whatever he was saying to her.

"Hi guys!" Nudge yelled and she ran over to give me a hug.

"Oh my God!" Iggy said staring wide eyed at the rest of the flock as they piled in. "What are you guys doing here?" he asked bumping his fist with Gazzy.

"Max called us to tell us to get our whiney heinies up here," Angel said taking off her coat and she walked over to Lilith who was reaching out for Angel to hug her.

Fang and Iggy looked at me, "You sneaky little bird-girl," Iggy laughed and I just grinned somewhat angelically. Angel giggles as she held Lilith who was whispering to her about God knows what.

Jim shook his head at us and was about to walk away from the door when there was another knock. He rolled his eyes and opened the door.

"Alice?" Fang's voice was happy and surprised.

"Hey!" Alice chirped bounced over to give him a hug. The rest of the Cullens were slowly piling in and I smiled at them.

Ryan came in and Angel immediately put down Lilith and ran over to hug him.

Jacob came around the corner in the kitchen and smiled at them. "Hey, I talked to Sam and he's okay with you guys staying here for a while. I don't know if you're staying until tomorrow or leaving tonight, but you're welcome to stay until tomorrow night."

Carlisle smiled, "Thank you Jacob, I'm not sure how long we're staying." He looked down at his watch, "We should go; I was told they had to be there at 6:45 to be ready for 7."

Jacob nodded, "I was just about to get in the car," he said picking up his jacket. "Uh, who's going with whom?" He asked all of us.

"Fang is going with me!" Alice shouted instantly. "So are Max, Lilith and Jasper." She waved us over and started out.

"Hey Alice wait up!" Lilith yelled running after her. I giggled and followed the others out.

**(Fang's POV)**

When I saw Alice I had to restrain myself from jumping up and hugging her, at least she realized I wanted one and gave me one. She smiled and lightly kissed my cheek subtly.

"Hey, I talked to Sam and he's okay with you guys staying here for a while. I don't know if you're staying until tomorrow or leaving tonight, but you're welcome to stay until tomorrow night." I barely registered Jacob saying that Alice was whispering to me.

"I missed you, Fang, there was a lack of sarcasm. Although the others tried it didn't have the right vibe," She said smiling and I chuckled a little.

"Fang is going with me!" Alice shouted suddenly, apparently I'd been out of it and I hadn't been paying attention to the conversation that was happening around me. "So are Max, Lilith and Jasper." She added and started out.

"Hey Alice wait up!" Lilith yelled and I grinned as she ran after Alice. I looked at the kitchen to see Emeric there, watching the Cullens.

I met eye contact with him. I smiled slightly, "Fang come on!" I heard Alice yell. My smile turned into a grin and I left into the dark after them.

The car ride to school was pretty calm even though Alice drove like a maniac. "I see you got over your fear of cars," Jasper noted from the seat in front of me.

I shrugged, "It all depends on the driver."

"See he feels safe when I drive," Alice said sticking her tongue out at him.

Lilith put her little hand in mine, "Auntie Alice did you know that I'm singing with Fangie." She asked swinging her legs and practically beaming. The little girl was wearing a spaghetti strap dress that was covered with little flowers that looked adorable on her.

"Yes, I did," Alice said and I could just feel the excitement coming off her. "Max told me, but I just know you're going to be amazing." She said and tapped her temple, "You'll be fantastic."

Max smiled and Jasper sighed, "Cool it down Alice," he muttered.

"Well sorry Jasper, I just can't wait for this to start!" Alice said grinning like the crazy little pixie she is.

Jasper sighed and massaged his temples. Max and I chuckled; Lilith just smiled and swung her legs.

We arrived right at 6:45 and Max, Lilith and I headed for the drama room to meet the others. Jasper and Alice waved goodbye and said they'd be in the audience.

"Hey where are the others?" Max asked me nudging me in the side with her elbow.

I sighed and rolled my eyes. I saw where they were. "Jim and Casey are taking Kari and Iggy, they're just parking. The Cullens are nearly here and Jacob and Alison and the rest of the flock are with them. Happy?" I sneered.

She gave me a look and stuck her tongue out, "Yes."

The others came and we practiced a little but other than that we were set.

I shook out my hands as I waited, "Why are you doing that Nick?" Lilith stage whispered. We'd told her that you're not allowed to talk loudly behind stage and she'd seriously taken up the challenge. A bunch of people smiled at her. They'd all agreed that she was the cutest thing ever.

"Loosens up the fingers for when I play," I whispered back.

She smiled and nodded. Mrs. Dillwyn went out and I grinned as she told the audience about tonight.

We were the 13th act out of 25 so we had to wait a little while. By far we were the largest. So far it was going pretty well. Iggy looked like he was going to explode any second. "Do I really have to sing?" He asked me quietly for the thousandth time.

I rolled my eyes, "Yes, you only have a few lines to yourself so just relax."

He sighed and nodded. "Hey that's the 12th act, ours is next. Don't you need to practice?" He asked in a whisper.

I shook my head, "No, if I practice it anymore I'm going to scream."

Iggy chuckled softly and the curtain closed for our act. I dragged him onto the stage and we all assembled there. I forever am thankful the piano is on wheels. I wheeled it into place and got Lilith to sit beside me on the bench. I'd given her the order to not touch the keys and handed her the microphone she'd be using. I had told her how to turn it on before so she did and she grinned at me as she waited. Max, Kari and Casey were all sitting on top of the piano and Iggy and Jim were standing beside them.

"This next group is full of students that are overflowing with talent. Together they have come together to sing a song for you all. I would like to welcome to the stage, Iggy Griffiths, Kari Hennessey, Maxine Ride, Casey Delanie, Jim Creek, Nick Riles and his little sister Lilith Riles." Mrs. Dillwyn's voice through the curtain sounded very respectful. The curtain started to open and I started to play.

The song was Raise It Up from that August Rush movie. It was an okay song, it wasn't a favourite of mine, but it fits.

Lilith flicked on my mike and put it in the little holder thing that held it exactly where I wanted it to hold it and I started to sing.

**No father figure in the house  
and I'm wonderin' how I'm gonna work it out  
oh, my friends keep on tellin' me how I don't need that man **

**but they don't really understand  
there are far too many pressures in reality **

**but dealing with the pain and stress and poverty  
and I gotta be myself because there's nobody else for me  
**

The others came in right on time and I grinned. Lilith was practically vibrating with excitement and I smiled at her. Jim sang the next verse and he was right on time and in key. He smiled at me from around the others and I grinned.

_**(heading there with me) ****sometimes it takes a different kind of love to raise a child  
(so don't give up) ****so don't give up  
(when pressures come down) ****sometimes it takes a different kind of dream to make you smile  
(so raise it up) ****so raise  
(hang in there with me) ****sometimes we need another helping hand to show the ways  
(so don't give up) ****so don't give up  
(when pressures come down) ****sometimes it seems impossible and that's why we pray  
(so raise it up) **_**_we raise_  
**

Lilith grinned and held the mike to her lips the way I showed her and started to sing. As she sang she hopped up from the bench and walked around to the others like we had done in practice a billion times.

Seems to be nothing left for me mommas gone daddy didn't wanna be and now I'm all by myself wonderin where is love or  
should I just give up

Casey took a deep breath before singing. She hopped down and stood beside Lilith.

_life falls down on me, cuts into my soul but I know I got the strength to make it through it all cause I'm still standin tall  
breaking through this wall I'm gonna give my all  
_  
Lilith grinned at her as she sang. I glanced at the audience, all eyes seemed to be on my 'sister' and I nearly laughed because she didn't even notice.

Feelin like a motherless child hate cuts into my soul it's bringing me down can't find my smile on a face of a motherless child

Lilith and the other girls sang this part together and their voices were in perfect harmony.

_()I'm gonna break down these walls gonna give it my all ya know  
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeahhhh()_

We all sang the group part as Jim sang his line.

_**(hang in there with me) ****sometimes it takes a different kind of love to raise a child  
(so don't give up) ****so don't give up**_

Max and Jim switched and she sang the next two lines.

_**(when pressures come down)**_ sometimes it takes a different kind of dream to make a smile  
_**(so raise it up) **_so raise it up

Iggy sent me that, 'I can't believe you're making me do this' look before he sang the next line. For goodness sake it was three words! He can be such a drama queen.

_**(hang in there with me) **_**raise it up**

Kari smiled at Iggy before singing her part and he blushed. I focused on playing before I lost my train of thought.

_Sometimes it takes another helping hand to show you the way  
**(so don't give up, when pressures come down)**_

sometimes it seems impossible that's why we pray  
_**so raise it up**_

We all sang the last line together and I was pretty happy with how it all turned out.

Once we were done they started clapping. Iggy glanced back at me, a smile on his face. I turned off my mike and chuckled. All walked forward and met in the middle and we all bowed. The people applauded and we smiled as the curtains closed. They helped me roll the piano away for the other people and backstage Lilith jumped into my arms, "That was awesome," she whispered.

I swung her around, "You were awesome," I whispered to her and she swung her feet and giggled.

Max ran over and kissed my cheek, "That was so… amazing."

I grinned, "I know." A picture flashed across my eyes and I looked around wildly. "Where's Iggy?" I asked instantly.

"He just left for the bathroom… why?" Max asked looking confused.

"His parents are here."

**(Iggy's POV)**

I really needed to use the bathroom, like really. Everyone I came across was saying how great we did, and I couldn't help but agree. I was surprised that I was able to go out there. Ya, I didn't have a big part, but I happen to be paranoid and have a heck of a lot of stage fright.

On the way back from the bathroom I froze on the spot. Two people down the hall looked too much like my parents. My father looked right at me and I was frozen in the spot. I slowly backed up and turned, walking fast down the hall. My breath was coming faster and I rounded the corner and ran outside into the dark night. I ran around the side of the building. I stared in shock; I was at a dead end. I leaned against the wall and prayed they wouldn't find me.

"James!" my mother's voice rang through the night and I squeezed my eyes shut. If they came around the corner I'd be screwed.

I slowly opened my eyes and looked at the opening between the two buildings.

My father came around the corner and in the dark I couldn't tell if he'd seen me or if he was looking at me, but I knew he was there.

"James, James, James," he said in a scolding tone, "You should have told us you can sing, but it's time for you to come home now. We're leaving, now, and there's no need to say goodbye I'll leave your freaky friends a message." He said as he walked towards me.

I backed up until I was right against the end and I shook my head, "No."

"What?" My father spat.

"I said no, I'm not leaving," I said standing a little straighter. I was taller than my father but I'd gotten into the habit of slouching around him.

"Yes, you are you ungrateful child," he yelled at me.

"I'm not a child," I said back to him. "I've survived on my own for nearly 15 years of my life and I won't let you control my life now. I'm nearly 18, I'm almost an adult, and I can do what I want."

Something hard connected with my face and my head wacked against wall behind it. I realized it was a hand as hands gripped my shoulders and threw me to the ground. I lay there and he started kicking me, "You will listen to me! I am your father and you will do what I say!" He yelled at me, every word was a kick to the gut and when he stopped I lay there with my arms wrapped around my torso. My insides were in pain and my mind begged for it to stop.

_This has to stop_. My mind told me. _I can't live like this._ I tried to take a deep breath, but it hurt. _Get up! Tell him that you're not going to listen to him! Tell him that he's not your father! Tell him you won't do what he says!_ I yelled at myself.

_Who am I kidding? I'm not strong enough to do this._ I thought feeling defeated.

Fang's words from when I said I wasn't as strong as him came back to me and I smiled at them.

"_You are a strong, intelligent, brave son of an asshole who is stronger than me in many, many ways, so if I hear you say that one more time I'll be the one to pop you in the side of the head."_

Somehow I found the strength to use my shaky arms to lift me up. I got up onto my knees and slowly stood.

"No, I won't listen to you, and I won't do what you say. Someone once told me that I am a strong, intelligent, brave son of an asshole who is stronger than him and he was right. You do not control me and you can't make money off me." Fang's words had given me some strength to say that and the punch in the gut nearly made my knees buckle.

"You are not strong or any of those things, you are worthless. Do you understand? Worthless!" He yelled at me. In the back of my mind I could hear someone approaching our little fight.

I heard someone let out an angry grunt somewhere and my father fell into me. I pushed him off me. I squinted in the dark and I looked down at the girl there. Kari wrapped her arms around me gingerly and I held her. She was shaking so I rubbed her back. "Oh my God, I heard you two talking. You know what he said isn't true right? You were right; you are strong and brave and stuff. You know that, right?"

I smiled, "Ya, I know."

"I can't believe I punched your father…" She whispered randomly.

"Where did you hit him?" I asked her, although I wanted him to be hurt I didn't want him to be seriously injured.

"I don't know… I think in the back somewhere," She whispered.

"Do you know where my mom went?" I asked her, as if she knew.

"I don't know, Fang saw you though, I heard him say your parents were here so I went to look for you," She said.

"But… what if you came across your dad?" I asked her.

I felt her shrug, "You're the most important thing to me, I wasn't about to let you slip away."

I smiled, "Thanks Kari."

"No problem, after all, between you and Fang, I seriously owe you guys," She giggled.

I let go of her to lean down and check to make sure he wasn't seriously hurt. "Come on, I guess we should go find Carlisle. Although I don't like him I don't want to just leave him here."

She smiled, "Okay, but Iggy can I do something first?" She asked.

"Uh, sure," I said, completely clueless as to what she was talking about.

She took my face in her hands and I felt something soft touch my lips. It took me seriously way to long for me to realize it was her lips. I kissed her back and she slowly pulled away after. "I'm sorry," She said a little breathless, "I've wanted to do that for a long time."

I chuckled, "It's okay."

She smiled in the dark and we went to find the others.

**A/N: so there you have it... who here expected it to be Kari? 'Cause I was planning on making it Fang till I kind of decided that it would be more... significant (I think that's the word I'm going for) if it was Kari**


	5. Graduation

Hey people! Everyone say a loud thank you to my new Beta 2-10-11eyesFINGERStoes! Well I won't keep you away from the chapter long :P

READ AWAY!

**Chapter 5  
(Iggy's POV)**

Things had sorted themselves out rather nicely I think. Carlisle took my father to the hospital and said that I, his son, found him and presumed he was mugged. Carlisle also mentioned that earlier that night I'd explained to my father that I was an adult and wanted to live by myself. I told them that he'd been angry over it and gone off alone. They said that they'd talk to him about it and he'd agreed that I was an adult and could live with Fang and Max. His back had been hit a certain way though that if she hit slightly upward and to the left he might have been paralyzed for life.

That was all last night, this morning Carlisle had made me go upstairs and pull up my shirt to show him the bruises that were starting to form.

Down and across my stomach was black and blue and once I'd shown him, I immediately pulled my shirt down and made sure no one else could see them. He'd asked if he could take pictures of them so he could report what my father did but I told him he couldn't. I was free now; my father and mother had backed down. They've let me go and I could do what I wanted.

I walked downstairs to see Fang and he smiled at me. "How's it going?" he asked.

"Okay, how's the valedictorian speech going?" I asked him.

He chuckled, "Nearly perfect."

"Well you've got till 3 o'clock to make it perfect, because if it's boring, I swear I'll start snoring," I teased him.

He rolled his eyes, "You know I think some nerd was glaring at me yesterday in math. It was pretty weird."

"Well he probably was working to be valedictorian all his life," I said chuckling and Fang sniggered and shrugged.

Fang looked out to the front where Jim was pulling up, "Hey, I'll talk to you later; I need to talk to Jim."

I nodded and went to the kitchen for breakfast.

**(Fang's POV)**

I took a deep breath as I walked outside and towards Jim's car. Casey and Jim got out and Casey waved at me. I nodded to her as I walked past her and she went inside. "Hey Jim, can I ask you something?"

"Sure," he said shrugging.

I took a deep breath, "Can you teach me how to drive?"

He stared at me for about ten seconds before he clicked his tongue, "Sure, why not?" I got the feeling it was more to himself.

"Well… not right now, don't I need a driver's education book or something…" I muttered and Jim just shook his head as I talked.

"No, no, no, I'll teach you, come on, jump in," he said nodding to the car.

"Uh… okay," my breath picked up a bit as I climbed into the drivers' seat.

I took a deep breath, "What now?"

Alice suddenly walked out of the house and opened the backseat door and got in. "I want to see this," she said after we stared at her for a few seconds.

"Hold it. We should teach him somewhere were it's less likely that he's going to ruin my car." Jim said his hand flying up and he got out of the car. I opened my door as he came around the front of the car and we changed seats.

"Hey, go over to our old house, we've got that field in the back, it should be good," Alice said and Jim nodded.

We pulled up to the Cullen's old house and Jim parked the car in the middle of their backyard and we switched seats again.

"Okay, so, put on your seat belt," Jim instructed and I obeyed. "Turn on the car, so turn the key all the way." I followed the instructions and my left hand shook as it held the wheel as the car purred to life.

"Are you sure about this Fang? Maybe you should read the book before driving…" Jim said biting his lip.

"No, I want to do this, so what now?" I asked him. I'd driven once before but I wasn't that good at it and I was kind of winging it. I wanted to learn this right.

"Okay, put it in first and you don't even need to push the pedal yet," Jim said and I did what he said. My hands were shaking as the car moved forwards without me even making it to.

"Jim! It's moving on its own, how do I make it stop?" I asked panicking slightly.

"Oh, right… the pedals. The left one is the break, put your foot on it." Jim said and I wondered if I should really be learning from him. I looked down and put my foot on the left pedal and the car instantly stopped.

Alice giggled, "See Fang, it's not as hard as it looks."

I sighed and leaned back in the car seat. "Maybe we should wait…" Jim muttered.

"Shut up Jim and teach me," I said now determined.

We spent a good hour and a half teaching me how to drive. It was actually okay. I had a few internal panic attacks but all in all it was alright.

When we went back home I actually drove back on the roads. As I pulled into the driveway, Max came out of the house with a surprised look on her face.

I parked the car like we'd practiced and turned off the engine. I sighed and leaned back on the seat.

"See it's not that bad," Jim said smiling.

"Well… not really… I guess. Driving on the road was… interesting." I didn't want to admit that it had scared the hell out of me to be on the road with other cars.

Alice patted my shoulder, "You did amazing Fang, come on, we need to get ready."

I nodded and climbed out of the car. Max walked down the steps and walked over to me. She flung her arms around me, "Are you okay?" She asked.

I smiled, "Ya, of course."

"Why were you driving anyways? I thought you were afraid of cars," She whispered pulling back slightly to see my face.

I nodded, "I was, I am, but I kind of reasoned that I need to get over it… you know? I mean… she's dead, oh well, what could I have done? Nothing, so I don't know… I thought I might as well try it," I muttered looking into her eyes.

She hugged me and I stood there, a little like a statue, "Well, okay, but just… go at your own pace, okay?" She said holding my face in her delicate yet strong hands. I smiled and nodded. She grinned, "Well okay, now come on, it's nearly time for you to put the nerds to shame."

I chuckled and wrapped my arm around her shoulders, "Alright, as long as you'll be my nerdy fan girl."

"Should I wave a textbook or an 'I love the valedictorian' banner?" She asked sarcastically and I chuckled as we headed towards the house.

Once we were on the porch I paused slightly. "Just clap at the end… I don't know how good it'll be and I want at least someone to clap," I said with a laugh, but on the inside I was kind of worrying. What if everyone was like 'what the hell?' and didn't clap at the end.

Max reached up and kissed my cheek, "You'll at least have… 18 people clapping for you… and that should jump start the applause."

I did the mental math, "Who're the extra three?" I asked her.

"Sam, Seth and Billy are going," she said and I groaned.

"Great, that old Billy goat gets another opportunity to judge me," I grumbled.

She looked up at me with gentle eyes, "Well maybe you shouldn't judge him before he judges you."

"What do you mean? He thinks I'm some bratty delinquent teenager." I said feeling confused. She was siding with him?

"Ya, he did… but he saw how you acted with Lilith and learned your story so he figured you at least deserved the right of a closer look," Max said smiling.

"How do you know that?" I asked frowning slightly.

"Angel told me," she said calmly.

"How did she know? She's been here for one night." I felt frustratingly confused.

"He was at the talent show," Max explained easily.

"You've just got an answer for everything don't you," I sighed and she grinned and nodded. I squeezed her shoulders and led her inside.

I shook out my hands as I waited for this to get started. We'd done a million pictures and we had all gone up for the weird scroll things, diplomas or whatever, and I had to go up soon.

Max squeezed my hand as the principal called me up after delivering her famous 'simmer down, simmer down' line. I kissed her cheek and whispered, "Wish me luck," as I got up.

She instantly whispered back, "You don't need it," as I walked away.

I stepped up on stage and I felt like the whole world was staring at me. I took a deep breath and focused in on one face, Max's. I smiled at her, she smiled and nodded back, showing me that she believed that I could do this.

I breathed out slowly, making sure my breath didn't mess up the microphone in the process. "Hi everyone," I started.

Almost instantly I heard several voices shout out the words, "Hi Nick!" I could pick out every one of them. They were all my close friends and family.

I chuckled and looked down, "Nice guys, well, I guess I should get down to business." I said and I got a few chuckles here and there.

I glanced at Max and she smiled encouragingly. "Well as most, if not all, of you know that I've had a pretty hard year." I paused for a second, "After the death of my parents for a long time the fear of losing everyone else I loved was my constant companion. Throughout this year I've learned that fearing that won't do me any good." I looked at Max and she smiled at me, showing me that she was proud of me.

I looked out among my classmates, "When I first came here I made a subconscious effort not to make friends. I didn't want to go through the pain of losing any more people. A few weeks later I realized that keeping to myself was not going to work. My first friend here in Forks is now one of my best friends. He's stuck by me no matter what problems I've made and helped me solve them. He's been by my side when I needed him the most. Here in Forks, Jim Creek made life better." I looked down at Jim and he actually blushed and a few people reached over to ruffle his hair and push his shoulder.

"Alright 'simmer down, simmer down,'" I said in a near perfect mimicry of our principal. Several kids laughed and I smiled. "

"We're leaving high school, and this is huge people. When we walk out those doors on the last day of school we are official adults… physically, unfortunately some of us are still five in our minds…" I looked meaningfully at Jim and several people laughed.

I took another deep breath, "So what I'm saying is we're going all over places, all over the world to chase our dreams. Our friendships will be spread far and wide and what's to say we won't lose contact or drift apart? What I'm saying is that you can't let that fear get in the way. Everyone has their own path and their own destiny, we can't just jump to our friends paths to rid ourselves of a little heart ache. You may not be on the same path but it doesn't mean you can't be a part of each others lives.

"This year we had to choose a lot of stuff about life. What college to go to, if you're going to work for a year, or if you're doing a little of both," I chuckled. "To those who are doing the work/college thing, I seriously bow to you. I know I've got a long year of work to go before I can even think about being able to pay for more school so to all of you whose parents are paying for your college or who've saved up since elementary school, I envy you. Your parents love you very much to pay for something so huge and if you saved it up yourself you have some serious will power. I can't even save up money for a new computer these days, but that's totally off topic." I took another deep breath. I was sounding close to Nudge. I needed to just relax; everything was going smoothly, and as far as I could tell, I had the audiences' attention.

I smiled, "The point I wanted to make is that you can't let fear hold you back. It held me back for a while but not any more. It'll only hurt you and the people who love you. Your friends and family will always have your back, no matter what, so just relax! Take a deep breath. No matter where you go, if you stay here or you travel the world, you'll always have friends somewhere to look out for you." I glanced back at the principal who I noticed quickly glance at her watch. "Well it seems my time is up, so… stay safe, keep your friends close and I hope to see you all at our high school reunion." I said with a smile and stepped down.

I walked down to my seat and Max held my hand, she whispered, "That was awesome."

"That was terrifying," I whispered back.

She kissed my cheek, "Regardless, you did great."

After we were let out we all met up to have dinner at Alison's and Jacob's house.

It was fun; I was sitting at the table with Lilith when Emeric came into the room. He looked down at us and frowned slightly, "Were you somewhere important just now?"

"Graduation," I said kind of quietly. "I was the valedictorian, so I kind of needed to go," I added.

He looked down at me, "Sorry I couldn't be there, my brother was holding a meeting."

Alice walking to the room just then, her eyes on Emeric and I. "Fang," she said her voice was worried.

"What is it Alice?" I asked getting up and walking towards her. She looked very worried.

"Your future just disappeared…" She whispered too quietly for Lilith to hear.

I took in a deep breath, I swallowed, "Are you sure? I was just talking to Emeric… I'm sure it's no big deal."

She nodded, "We're leaving later tonight… are you sure we shouldn't stick around a little, I'm sure we could stay a few days…."

I smiled, "Alice as nice as that would be, you have a home and I'm sure your presence here sends Sam on edge… I'll come visit you this summer though, alright?"

She nodded she gave me a hug and said, "I'll call you to see when you want to head up there."

I smiled, "I'm sure you could just predict it if you wanted."

She giggled slightly; I could tell my sudden disappearance of my future worried her. There was nothing to worry about though, we were among werewolves; of course my future was going to be sketchy.

She was turning around as I felt like the whole world was shattering in my mind.

I blinked in effort to make the pain reside but it was too much. Pictures flashed across my mind at rapid speed and I groaned. In a split second, Alice was facing away from me and in another she was facing towards me.

She held me up as it all passed through. I could see wolves running through the forest and it suddenly switched to Randle walking in a house to some scientists at the school to the people in the room watching me.

I winced and my legs felt like jello. "Alice… something's wrong," I whispered before it all faded into darkness.


	6. Capture of the Bird Boy

**Hey! All bow to my beta 2-10-11eyesFINGERStoes!! Mmm I can smell the turkey hey y'all I live in freaking Canada (eh) so I get turkey today :D and for an extra plus IT'S MY BIRTHDAY TOMORROW -does happy dance- and at least one of you should say happy birthday to me in your reviews... it'll make me happy :) anyways**

HAPPY READING!

**Chapter 6  
(Max's POV)**

For someone who was acting weirdly distant, Emeric was really concerned about Fang. As Alice and Emeric brought Fang upstairs, I held Lilith in my arms as she shook in fear.

I gently soothed her as she sniffled and clung to me. I kissed her forehead. "Max, is he going to be okay?" She whispered.

I nodded, "Don't worry, Fang's a fighter. He'll be fine," I said but the words didn't sooth my own worried mind.

He'd seen something, something that was wrong and it must have been big. His visions of the present hadn't been this bad in a while.

Angel walked into the room and she looked up at me, "I know what he saw."

Edward entered as well, "So do I."

"What was it?" I asked casting an anxious glance at Lilith. Alison, who'd been sitting at the table, quickly took her and left the room.

"Well first there were wolves running in the forest," Angel said looking urgent.

"But not just any wolves, those were werewolves, but not the same from Sam's pack. A different one," Edward added.

"Ya, then there was Randle in someone's house, I'm not sure whose." Angel said frowning.

"What did it look like?" I asked. If we knew what it looked like it might lead us to where he was and what he was doing.

Edward picked up a piece of paper and started drawing really quickly. It looked like the lines were appearing by themselves. The picture was looking though a door down a hallway and there was a door to the left and another door at the end of the hall.

Kari and Iggy came into the room to get something to drink when Kari dropped her glass and it shattered on the ground. "Why are you drawing that?" she whispered.

"What is it?" Iggy asked anxiously.

She took in a few sharp breaths before saying, "That's my father's house."

Now we're getting somewhere.

Angel looked a little flustered; I guess it had to do with Kari's dazed look. I guess she was remembering stuff. "Then after that it was scientists at the school and then the people in the room looking at him."

"So what does wolves, Randle walking through Kari's dad's house, the scientists at the school and all of us have to do with each other?" I asked feeling a little more than confused.

"Well Randle, the school and us all make sense," Angel said shrugging.

"Ya, but the wolves don't," Edward said and I could see how frustrated he was.

"What about wolves?" Jacob asked as he entered the kitchen.

"Fang's vision had four things in it, three of them make sense, but one doesn't fit at all," Edward said staring blankly at the kitchen table.

"What are they?"

"Wolves, the school, the flock and Randle at Kari's house," I said feeling annoyingly helpless in the situation.

Jacob sighed and ran his hands through his long hair, "This is going to be fun figuring out," he muttered and sat down. It's going to be a long night.

**(Fang's POV)**

I was swimming in a haze of dreams. Everything was covered in a thin gray coat of smoke, but I could see everything that was going on downstairs in the kitchen.

My mind jumped from Max and the others trying to figure out my visions to Alice who was standing beside my bed watching me. She was perfectly still, as if it was a photo in my mind instead of a movie. The only thing that told me it wasn't was my chest slowly rising and falling and the tiniest flashes of emotion that flittered across my face as I dreamed this odd dream.

It was weird, to see myself but not be able to feel it. At one point I felt a little panicked, therefore, I started to really panicking. I could see my breathing start to get erratic and chaotic and I instantly was worried. I was hyperventilating in my own sleep and I felt like I could hear my heart beat distantly thumping in my ears.

I was worried. I tried to swallow and I did. I tried to move my eyes and they moved under my eyelids. I tried to move, but I only succeeded in a twitch of my hand.

I was trapped in my own body. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs for someone to do something. Alice knelt beside me and placed a hand on my cheek, "Fang," She whispered, "Relax." Her words actually calmed my senses and I watched myself relax.

There was still an undercurrent of panic though, what if I was trapped here, in my mind, forever?

My mind was suddenly far away. Randle stood in a kitchen, apparently Kari's kitchen if what they said downstairs was right, and I watched as he stood there, looking around. Suddenly Kari's dad walked in and he stared at Randle.

"Randle Reeves, what have I done to earn a visit from you?" The sarcasm in his voice would have made me smile.

Randle gave him a look, "Mr. Hennessy, would you like to tell me the whereabouts of your daughter." Fear rolled down my spine, he had better not know.

Kari's dad raised an eyebrow at him, "Apparently we're on a last name basis. Mr. Reeves, I am sorry to tell you that I don't know the whereabouts of my daughter because she's recently decided that she is an ungrateful brat and has ran away somewhere with her boyfriend."

Randle chuckled, "Ouch, sorry Michael."

Kari's dad rolled his eyes, "Whatever, Randle, she'll come back sooner or later, or I'll find her and her boyfriend one way or another. What is it that you want?"

Randle sat up on the counter and picked up an apple, "Well Michael, it's come to my attention that your daughter is with at least three of our experiments. She and the flock are somewhere in this town," Randle said.

Michael stared at him, "I knew there was something wrong with those kids." He looked like he might continue but Randle held up a finger.

"You know Nick Riles? He's really experiment 2843639002 and gets visions of other people, like exactly what they're doing, so I warn you not to speak of too many secrets," Randle warned before taking a bite of the apple.

"Really? He's 002? I assume the girl is 001 then," Michael said and Randle nodded.

"So what do you want me to do? Track her down so you can get your precious little freaks back, yeah right," he snorted.

"No, we've got a few more players in this game than that," Randle said grinning.

Michael raised an eyebrow, "Like whom?"

"The school wants the flock, I want Fang and his adopted sister Lilith and the wolves want the vampires," Randle said taking another bite.

"Werewolves and vampires? The only werewolves I now are you and the only vampires I know are the soul sucking bastards at the school," Michael growled.

Randle smiled, "No, we're talking about a group of werewolves in La Push and the vampire clan of the Cullens." He suddenly grinned, "Oh and Fang, if you're seeing this," he chuckled, "I can't wait to see your face."

I gasped and my mind screamed in denial. I fought to get out of this. I needed to warn the others.

I was suddenly back in my room, but I was still having a vision of it. I was screaming and thrashing around on my bed and I heard people coming up and Alice was holding me down to make sure I didn't injure myself.

I wanted the vision to stop already. I needed to warn Alice. Some La Push werewolves were going to hurt the Cullens and I couldn't allow that. I felt like I was trying to squeeze my eyes closed but they were wide open.

Something snapped and my vision was gone and there was only darkness.

I slowly opened my eyes to the dead silence and Alice stared down at me, fear in her eyes, "Fang? Are you alright?" Her mouth formed the words but I could hardly hear them over my breathing.

I sat up quickly and looked around; most of the house was upstairs in my room including Jacob, Sam and Seth. I glared at them, my anger was getting the better of me, and somewhere I knew that, but I wasn't about to let them get away with this.

"No, I'm not alright," I said to Alice but remained glaring at the three. "You lying traitorous dogs!" I growled, "I trusted you and this is how you repay me?"

The three of them looked at each other, "What?" Sam and Seth said at the same time.

"Fang, relax, what did you see? None of us know what the heck you're talking about." Jacob said and I glared at him.

"I'm talking about how a group of werewolves are planning on betraying us and going after the Cullens!" I shouted at him.

Jacob looked at Sam, who looked completely baffled. "Well, either there are rouge wolves running in our pack or it's not us because as far as I'm concerned the Cullens are welcome here," Jacob said looking me straight in the eye.

I glared at him, I couldn't trust him anymore. Max walked over to me and put a hand on my cheek, "Fang, come on, we'll go talk in my room okay, in private. You can tell me all about the vision and we'll think of something to do." She said and I nodded. She led me out of the room and over to hers.

She sat down and so did I, "Fang, just relax, I'm going to get us something to drink and then I'll be back okay?" She said and I nodded.

Once she left the room my eyes went straight to her window. My mind was a jumble of chaos and confusion and something told me that forcing my vision to stop had had some effect on my mind, but I was unable to really think about it.

I stood and walked towards the window. I looked out it and waited, I heard the door open and closed and assume it was Max so I merely said, "That was fast."

Something hard hit the back of my head and everything went black.

**(Max's POV)**

I went downstairs to get some hot chocolate and Alice was there, "Is he okay? I think there is something wrong with him right now," she said looking a little worried.

Edward was beside us in a slip second. "Alice, that's because there is something wrong with him. He forced his vision to stop which made something in his head decide to stop as well and until he decides to continue seeing visions he's not going to be able to think straight."

Alice looked like she was going to say something but she stopped. She stared off into space, "Oh no," she whispered and they were both gone.

I sighed; this was probably not a good thing. I was about to go see where they went but they were already back. "He's gone."

"What do you mean gone?" I asked in surprise.

"As in the window is open and he's not in the room and I can't be sure where he is," Alice said looking panicked.

"We have to go after him," I said instantly.

"Max, wait, whoever took Fang had to be a wolf. All Alice saw was him disappear. We should gather all the wolves, it'll tell us who took him." Edward said glancing at Alice.

I glared at him. "Edward, if you think that some werewolf taking Fang is going to stop me from going after him then you really need to take another look at my mind. Whether you like it or not, I'm going after him," I said grabbing my coat and heading for the back door.

**(Fang's POV)**

Pain pulsed behind my eyelids and I blinked my eyes open. I was staring at the ceiling of the room.

I groaned. The back of my head hurt and I tried to reach up to feel it but something caught my arm. I looked over to see my arms and legs were securely tied to the bed.

I tugged against the restraints and I heard the door open and I looked around wildly to see who it was.

"Well, well, well, we meet again Fang," Randle's voice was the last thing I wanted to hear.

"Let me go you crazy son of a bitch," I growled.

He laughed, "I wouldn't use such harsh words, Fangie. You never know what I would do to you for that," he said pulling a switch blade out of his pocket and flicking it open.

I forced myself to breathe evenly as he brought the blade near my right arm. He held it so it was hovering slightly over the middle of my forearm. I watched the tip, waiting for the moment when he would push it past my skin.

I glanced at his face, his eyes flickered from the blade to my face and in that instant I felt the sharp stab of pain shoot up my arm. My mouth became a tight thin line in the effort not to cry out. My jaw was pulled tightly together and I was shaking slightly as he started to move it.

I squeezed my eyes shut and forced myself to take even breaths. "There is only one thing I want from you right now Fang, scream," he whispered near my ear. The blade jerked to the side slightly and a yell of pain escaped my lips and he instantly yanked the blade out.

I lay there, panting and gasping. I looked up at Randle. I remained silent but I wanted to yell at him. I wanted to kill him.

He smirked down at me, "That's the first lesson to be learned, don't call me names. That's the first mark; there will be more if you keep disobeying me."

I took deep breaths, or at I least tried to. I looked at my wrist, it was bleeding rather badly, but I knew he wouldn't leave me to bleed to death. The cut there reminded me of a distant nightmare that had haunted me into silence. The nightmares where my lies were cuts across my skin, and they bled endlessly as I watched them, but this wasn't a dream that I could wake up from.

"How did you find me? How did you get me here?" I asked my voice breaking through the pants.

"Well, it's simple, Fang, do you know of a wolf named Blaine?" Randle said leaning down near my face.

I slowly shook my head. "Well, he doesn't like vampires, so when his pack moved in and realized you had a nice little relationship with a bunch, he couldn't resist hunting them down. I just happened to be helpful in the equation."

I stared at him. That was the wolf that was betraying them. I was wrong about Sam and Jacob. Guilt slowly seemed into my veins. I had accused my friends of something they weren't involved in and now we were all going to pay for it.

"He snuck into your house and captured you, he opened the window to make it seem like he went out that way when he left out yours and hid there a little for it all to calm down before coming over here." Randle's voice could only be described as smug.

"Alice is watching this," I whispered desperate to find a reason for him to stop this.

He chuckled, "No, she _might_ be watching this, but don't worry, I'll be sure that she never figures out where you are. That is until we want her to find you."

"Why would you want her to find me?" I whispered. I felt like if I talked any louder I'd start screaming from the pain that was still issuing from my wrist.

"Because Fang, the only way to get to the Cullens, is through you," he chuckled and turned to leave. "Oh, don't bleed to death on me, I need you." He laughed as he left, slamming the door behind him. I heard a bolt slide across the door.

I was silent for a while, staring at the ceiling, "Alice, help me," I whispered and I glanced at my wrist, there was a wide circle of my blood pooling around it onto the bed and I groaned; my head was staring to throb and I slowly fell unconscious.


	7. Careo Gaudium

**Hey people, sorry I took so long to update this, I've been busy.**

**Oh and I seriously need to get into the habit of this but I'm putting a claimer/disclaimer on my stories now.**

**Claimer: I own this plot line/all the original characters... so back off you pack of thieving jackals! They are my cool fictional family! -fights of jackals with a pointy stick-**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you've heard of before... Maximum Ride and all the characters in those books... telephones... girl guide cookies... radios... chocolate... cheese... any and all of that stuff... I don't own that stuff. (Even though I do own a telephone, a radio and there are about 7 different types of cheese in my fridge... seriously... my brothers LOVE cheese... so do I actually... I'm going to go eat some cheese....)**

**Chapter 7  
(Lilith's POV)**

I sat in the living room with Iggy as the others tried to figure out what to do. I clung to him and he hugged me close. I was so scared, someone had kidnapped Fang, and I wanted him back!

I didn't even realize that I was crying, but Iggy shushed me and rocked me as he tried to comfort me. "Come on Lili, Fang will be okay, trust me. Oh, don't cry, please, stop crying," he started to beg.

I tried to stop, I really did, but I couldn't. I couldn't stop thinking about him. I felt another set of arms wrap around me and Kari lifted me up and held me close, "Come on, sweetheart. Are you hungry? Do you want some cookies?"

I shook my head, tears still streaming down my face. "Fang wouldn't let me eat cookies at this time of night," I said, my voice breaking and she bounced me a little on her hip.

She smiled, "Ya, but when girls are upset, they usually eat junk food and watch TV to get their minds off their troubles. Come on, we'll go watch a movie and eat cookies with Nudge and Casey. Would you like that?" She asked me and I nodded.

Iggy shook his head at Kari, "That's the worst lesson I've ever heard, when you're upset: stuff yourself with junk food and watch a movie."

"Hey, shut up, I happen to not be some sort of super enhanced bird kid who has lived on the streets. I still get upset and cry so you just leave us alone," Kari said, her eyes swimming with tears.

"Are you upset 'bout Fang too?" I asked her, my sobs quieting a little.

She nodded, "He helped save me, and there is no way to repay him for that. Now he's gone and I can't shake the feeling that it's my fault." Tears left her eyes and she looked at me, almost expecting me not to understand.

I didn't understand how it could be her fault, after all Randle was after me. I broke into silent sobs at the thought that someone would take away Fang because of me.

**(Fang's POV)**

In my dreams I drifted all over the place, my mind was jumbled in a haze of chaos. Memories and visions fazed in and out of each other and my mind rebelled against it. I could see Lilith crying in Iggy's arms and I wasn't sure if it was a memory or if it was happening right now.

Some of the pictures were getting blurrier, fading and changing. It hurt my head as if I was trying to see something through fogged glasses. The harder I tried, the more annoying it was and the more my eyes strained. I wished I could just rip the glasses off.

My head pounded and somewhere in the distance I heard the words, "Hey, freak, wake up."

I groaned as I broke through the faded memories and visions and found myself in the same room as before. My blood was still on the sheets and the cut in my wrist stung, but it had stopped bleeding.

I looked at the man there and he looked down at me. It was Kari's dad for sure. "You helped my daughter get away from me, right?"

I nodded; I didn't feel like speaking was a good idea right now.

"You know where she is then, right?" Kari's dad said looking down at me.

I slowly shook my head, yes, I was lying, but I wasn't about to give away that information.

I was punched hard across my face, but I didn't show the pain. "Yes, you do, you lying scum. Where is she?"

"I don't know," I said and I felt a hard punch to my gut. I sucked in a breath, he had successfully winded me.

"Don't lie to me, where is she?" he demanded again.

"I don't know!" I yelled in anger and got another punch to the face.

"Michael," Randle's voice startled me and I struggled to breathe even though my chest ached. Kari's dad looked at him, anger and surprise on his face. "Leave," Randle said; his eyes full of anger and Kari's dad left.

"Sorry, he shouldn't be in here, but whatever, how are you today, Fang?" Randle said cheerfully.

"Bite me," I growled.

"Aww, don't be like that, Fang, this will be over within a few days tops. You're vampire family will be dead, the flock will be in the school, Kari will be back with her dad and you, your little 'sister,' all the others with weird powers, and I will be up in the school's secret lab in the mountains figuring out what makes you tick. Oh, and your little human friends might just come along for the ride. Who knows, they could prove to be useful in experiments," he said smugly.

I felt sick, they were going to destroy everyone I loved and cared about. I didn't say that about every single flock member had 'weird powers' but that made me worry. How far would they go to figure out what it was that made us who we were?

I needed to get out of here. I pulled on my restraints and he laughed, "It's only a matter of time Fang."

"Go to hell!" I yelled at him and he chuckled and patted my leg, which my leg responded to by pulling against my restraints and trying to push his hand away with my leg. Randle chuckled, his head shaking back and forth and he left the room.

**(Max's POV)**

I didn't get back until early in the morning. I'd been searching all night, flying above Forks for the slightest hint of Fang, but there was nothing.

I landed in the backyard and nearly collapsed I was so tired. Alice was with me in a second. Her cold skin made my nerves jump awake a little, but not enough. I leaned onto her. "Are you okay Max? You look completely wiped out," Bella said, gracefully walking down the steps from the back door.

I nodded, as Alice brought me inside. I sat down on a chair, my head in my arms. "I couldn't find any trace of him."

Alice nodded, "I saw a few visions, but nothing to tell me where he is."

"What did you see?" I asked her; maybe I could tell where he is.

Alice glanced at Bella, "Um, well… Randle was there, and Kari's dad… and Kari's dad wanted to know where Kari was, and they said something about a wolf called Blaine… but there is no wolf in the pack by that name…."

"Not in your pack," Emeric said, sighing. He walked through the kitchen door and sat down at the table and sighed, "We've got a problem."

"What?" I asked sleepily.

He took a deep breath, "My brother's name is Blaine. He's the leader of our pack and he doesn't like the fact that you and Fang are buddies if you know what I mean. Basically, he's going to try to catch you guys with Fang as bait."

"You didn't say this before because?" Alice said, sounding extremely frustrated.

"Well, one I thought I could convince him to do otherwise, and I thought I could save Fang without having any problems. I failed unfortunately," he grumbled.

Alice sighed, "Well, do you have any idea where he would be?"

"No, my brother is smart enough to know not to trust me with too much, but I assume he's still in town somewhere," Emeric said, sounding very frustrated with himself.

I closed my eyes, "Max, you need to go sleep." Alice said and I felt her cold arms around me; lifting me from the chair.

In a millisecond I was being tucked under covers and she brushed hair from my face, "Sleep now Max, we'll tell you everything when you wake up."

Her voice faded into oblivion and the second it was gone bright lights burned my retinas.

**Maximum**, the voice echoed through my head.

_Oh, crap, here we go_. I mentally sighed, _and I was so sure I was through with you._

**Not quite, you still have to save the world, and to save it you need 002.** The voice said as pictures flashed sickeningly fast across my eyes. They were too fast to see clearly, they were merely lights flashing at me.

_002?_ I wondered.

**You know him better as Fang,** the voice added.

_Why would you call him 002 anyways?_ I asked as the lights started to make me a little dizzy.

**Well, it's his knowledge of the school that will help you save the world, **the voice said as if it was obvious.

_What knowledge does he have that the rest of us don't have?_ I asked feeling a little worried.

**He is the only one who knows about Project Careo** **Gaudium,** the voice said.

_What's 'Project Careogaudium'?_ I asked the voice feeling like a complete idiot.

**Not Careogaudium, its two words, Careo Gaudium. It's a project the school had been working on for a while when you were younger. Do you remember a time when Fang would be taken from the group? And after they brought him back he'd lie in his cage, just staring into space for about 2, 3 hours and he'd stay like that?**

I felt like shuddering. I was starting to get used to the bright lights, _Yes, I remember, it freaked the crap out of us. What was the point of the project?_

**The project centered on the brain. They wanted to try and stop a certain amount of brain waves that emit a certain amount of energy. These brain waves make us different; they make us who we are. They depict how we react and how we cope with things.**

_Okay you really need to specify. What kind of brain waves are we talking about? What are they exactly?_ I asked, feeling very confused.

**Maximum, think about it! For a long time what did Fang lack? Why did he not feel the need to speak? Why did he not want to become closer friends? Why did he not open up until only a while ago? Why did he not trust anyone?** I could tell the voice was getting frustrated with my slowness.

_Look, I don't know all the answers. Fang is Fang; he is just the strong and silent type, that's that, _I said back, nothing was ever wrong with Fang.

**Maximum, they tried to stop his emotions.** The voice said and I think it actually sounded upset. **The Latin translation of Careo Gaudium is 'to be deprived of happiness.' They started out trying to stop him from thinking positive thoughts and slowly started trying to take away all emotions. They tried to make him not have any happiness, joy, trust, love… all those are positive thoughts and they tried and halfway successed in turning them off… in Fang anyways. **

**After the flock escaped they turned to another experiment and succeeded in taking away all emotion from a living being, but it's not permanent, you would need to be given the shot at least twice a month. You fought the final result of the experiment in Germany. Omega had no opinions, no happiness, he couldn't be depressed and he had no conscious. He just did what they told him to do. **

**They are now thinking about giving it to soldiers so that they will not be traumatized after war. They are also thinking about using what they did to Fang as a weapon. When a person is depressed they don't perform as well as they should. That was the point of the project, to find a way to take away a person's happiness and make it a weapon.**

My thoughts instantly tried to deny it and prove it. Fang was silent, he kept to himself and he didn't trust anyone because we grew up like that. We all did, but that would explain so much. His lack of feeling towards other people could be because of that project. How until a while ago he wouldn't have help people unless he knew them, or I told him to. _Is that why he's changed? How come he never told us what happened in there?_

**Well first of all, there are side effects. Fang has what the whitecoats have now called 'silent nightmares.' They're nightmares that extremely frightening, but the person's body doesn't react; only the brain reacts. Usually when people have nightmares they tend to try to move or scream; Fang simply didn't react. **

**Also, they told him the only way they'd stop testing was if he died and if he ever said anything about the project, they'd stop testing on him and start on a different member of the flock, if you get what I mean. Plus the fact that one of the project's side effects is minor memory loss. **

**The reason why it's stopped over the years is that he had lack of exposure. They couldn't make it permanent; the only way to keep him unfeeling was the weekly sessions that he went to, and even that was an overdose of it. He only needed the treatment once a month but they gave it to him once a week. **

**After a few years of being away from the treatment he started to feel more, open up more, trust people more. All the feelings Fang is feeling now are relatively new to him, but he can't really tell, because it's been so gradual.** The voice said as the images were slowing down. I saw a younger Fang; pictures of his childhood in a lab were passing through my head.

**Ever wondered why Fang is afraid of needles?** The voice asked me as several pictures of Fang being given shots with whatever toxic crud they were putting in him by whitecoats passed by my eyes.** Now you know.**

_Urgh, I think I'm going to be sick._ I thought in disgust. My mind suddenly had an epiphany. _Is this why his visions didn't show up until now and why he suddenly lashes out with emotion?_

**Yes, it's kind of ironic, because repressing his emotions actually saved him from many years of the whitecoats poking and prodding him as they tried to figure out his natural gift, **the voice said.

_Okay, so how does his knowledge of Project Careo Gaudium help me save the world?_ I asked the voice.

**Well, as you saw in Germany the school has pretty much perfected it and is now trying to find a way to make a deal with the military to give the serum that takes away all emotions to their soldiers and use the serum that takes away people's happiness as a weapon. If they do the world will be thrown into chaos. People will be so depressed they can't move. That's why Fang couldn't move for so long after treatment, it overpowers your brain and all you can think about is depressing thoughts.**

The picture froze just then, and I wanted to cry out in agony at the picture in front of my eyes. This was Fang in the present. He was lying restrained in a bed, a deep cut in his right arm and a pool of blood around it. He looked pale, way too pale, I'd guess from blood loss or lack of food. He had a bruise starting on his left cheek; from what I don't know.

**In order to save the world, you have to save Fang, and time is running out.**

**A/N: Ooo suspense... kind of... not really... but sort of... ANYWAYS... hi... reviewing time now? Yes? No? Yes?? Yes? Come on... you know you want to... -creepy smile- yes? I'll stop creepy smiling if you review...**

**...no guarantees though.**


	8. Impulse

**Hey people, I'm super happy right now. I got Shaina Twain blasting in my ear (I blame my mother and her country loving ways) and I got a brilliant idea for an original story I'm writing.**

**besides the point.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing you've heard before, basically Maximum Ride Characters and Twilight Characters and like... anything else.**

**Claimer: I own the plot and all original Characters. You know, Jim, Casey, Randle, Blaine, Emeric, Lilith, Ryan, god the list goes on... i never realized the seriously long list of people I make up.... Btw that also includes the Careo Gaudium Project thing.  
**

**anyways...**

**READ AWAY!!!**

**(Subliminal Messaging Engaged! Beeteedub(btw) The Message Is: REVIEW!!!!)**

**Chapter 8  
(Fang's POV)**

I stared at the ceiling of the room I was being held in, counting the dots. I was at 347 when I heard the door open. I lifted my head to see Randle come in. "Hey Fang," he said like we were long time friends.

I glared at him, "What do you want now?" I asked.

"Well, the school has come up with an ingenious plan to break your pathetic band of rebellious freaks." Randle said smiling, "We're awaking demons from the past, Fangie," he said grinning. "Do you remember project Careo Gaudium?"

I winced at the memory of that. God that had been hell, but I never really understood what it did. I assumed it was a total bust because it didn't do anything. The whole thing was basically endless tests and needles. I didn't know what to think of it really. All I knew was that it hurt a lot, made me space out for a really long time and made Max pretty upset.

"What about it?" I asked wary now.

"Well, we figured we'd use the one thing Max can't beat," Randle smiled, "You."

I frowned; Max could beat me any day in a fight. What was he talking about? That project did practically nothing, how was it a big deal now!?

"You see, Fangie, Max won't fight you. So we'll be able to take her down easily," Randle said smirking.

I stared at him for a second before bursting out laughing. I laughed for a seriously long time. It was just so stupid! Randle's face was slowly turning into a glare. "I'm… I'm sorry, it's just… I'll never fight against Max," I said between fits of hysterics.

"We'll see about that," Randle sneered as Kari's dad entered the room with a syringe. I was instantly worried. Randle grinned and took it from me. He approached the bed and I started to struggle against my bonds.

"Don't worry, Fang, you won't even realize that you've turned against them. You won't even realize that you've lost all emotion and decision," Randle said in an almost soothing voice.

Panic cursed through me. I couldn't let that happen. My right arm was practically screaming at me to stop. I took a deep breath as my hand slipped from the rope, my blood proved to be the perfect lubricant. Randle sighed and set the syringe down and started towards me as I got the other hand untied. Kari's dad and Randle started to come closer and I glared at the two of them. Kari's dad got in arms reach and I punched him. He stumbled back and I turned and punched Randle hard in the gut. He took a step back, winded slightly. I reached down and untied my ankles before leaping from the bed and across the room to the door. I threw it open and took off down the hall.

I passed by several rooms with windows, all the blinds were down. I heard yelling behind me and I continued to run. I didn't have any idea where I was going, but I knew I just wanted to get away. I turned the corner and ran right into someone. I looked up at the tall man in front of me.

I gasped and backed up quickly. I assumed he was the werewolf, Blaine. Blaine looked really similar to Emeric. I guess he was his brother, the one Emeric hated. Blaine grinned at me and I turned and ran for it. I might be a genetically enhanced bird kid, but there was no way I could fight a werewolf.

I heard more footsteps behind me and arms wrapped around me, holding me in place. I was struggling, yelling, biting and cursing as Randle and Kari's dad caught up. Randle smirked as he came around my side and punched me in the face. He shook his head as if he pitied me. "Well done Fang, you almost managed to escape," Randle said in a falsely cheerful tone. He punched me in the gut and I coughed as I was winded. He nodded to Blaine, who let me go and I crumpled to the ground. I tried to get up, but Randle kicked me in the side and my arms collapsed under me. I lay there panting, at this point all I wanted was to be able to breathe. Randle grabbed a handful of my hair and lifted me up. I winced as he forced me to stand.

I glared at him and punched Randle in the face. He glared back and punched me in the stomach, again. "Damn it," Randle muttered spitting out some blood, "You're going to pay for that one, Fang," he growled, "Michael, restrain Fang, Blaine, you leave. I want them to see this." Randle paused for a second before saying, "Actually, go get me that syringe full of the serum." Blaine nodded.

My eyes widened a little at that and fought to free myself. Blaine pushed me into Michael who held me as Randle started punching the daylights out of me. After a minute or two, Blaine returned with the syringe and left again. Randle gripped my hair, forcing my head to the side and asked, "Any last words before you become one of us?"

I spat out some blood. "Ya, I'll see you in hell," I growled at him, giving him a look of hatred. It had sunk in, the seriousness of this moment. This could be the last time I ever felt the same as I did right now. Maybe this was the last look of hatred I'd ever give. Maybe this was the last time I'd feel the same way about Max. Maybe this was the end of the Fang everyone knew. Maybe this was my true death, because after this, I wouldn't be the same. I wouldn't be the same Fang. I'd just be the devil's pawn.

Randle glared at me and sank the syringe into my neck. Randle slowly emptied the syringe. A single tear rolled down my cheek. _Goodbye self, goodbye world of beauty and pain. I'll see you in the afterlife._

**(Alice's POV)**

I was staring off into space, seeing what had happened before my eyes. "Oh no," I whispered. They couldn't have done that to Fang. Not my nephew, not my Fang.

I shook my head, "What is it Alice?" Jasper asked his eyes lit with worry. Edward and Angel stared at me, pain in their eyes.

Angel actually started crying, "No! They can't have done that to Fang. He'd never, ever, ever change like that!" She cried. Nudge quickly held the small child, and tried to soothe her.

In the meantime I was getting angrier and angrier at the thought of what they did. They took his bravery and his fear. They took his strength and his weakness. They took his love and his hate. They took his trust, his love, his sense of right and wrong. They took everything that mattered. He had no conscious now.

Jasper held me and I felt the waves of calm and was thankful for them. Max would be furious when she came down and I couldn't tell her about this. It would be too sad.

Jasper sighed, "For once you're not happy and bouncing all around the place." He sounded pretty upset by that.

I sighed, "Sorry."

He shrugged, "It's not your fault… come on. Let's do a proper sweep of the town."

I shook my head, "There's no point. They're coming here." Jasper and everyone in the room froze. "They're bringing him here… they'll make him fight us."

Carlisle shook his head, "This is an utter disaster."

Edward was pacing suddenly. "Well they'll bring Emeric's pack… which means that he'll have to fight with them," he said.

Emeric looked very angry about that. "God, why does my brother have to be such a-" He was cut off by Iggy who hissed, "Kids in the room."

"Why don't you mutiny?" Jacob asked in all seriousness. "Or leave your pack, join ours."

Emeric looked pained, "I would love to do that, but I… I don't think I can. I mean, I hate him, but he's the only family I've got."

Iggy actually rolled his eyes, "Family sha-mily, if your brother is a jerk, like my parents are jerks, kick 'em to the curb. If they won't treat you with respect and with the freedom to choose what you want to do, then they shouldn't have the privilege to have your presence around them," Iggy said were a high level of fierceness in his eyes.

Kari smiled at him. Emeric nodded, "Ya, you're right," he said and even I could feel the confidence coming off him.

Jacob frowned for a minute, "Hey, your brother is the leader of the pack right? So couldn't you technically become the leader of your pack?"

Emeric nodded, "It's kind of complicated, but because we're brothers we had to fight for the right to be the leader of the pack. I would have won, but it's supposed to be a fight to the death, and back then, we were each other's best friends. He came close to death, and they said that since I didn't have the guts to kill him, he got to be the leader. It's kind of confusing and a bit backwards, but that's how it goes."

"So… if you fight him now and win… wouldn't you become the leader?" Alison asked crossing her arms.

He shrugged, "I guess, but he would never agree to that." He suddenly grinned, "But I guess it doesn't matter all that much."

"Why?" Gazzy asked, "If he doesn't agree to fight you, doesn't that mean it's just over?"

Emeric shook his head a grin plastered on his face, "No, if he refuses to fight me, then I automatically become leader of the pack. See in our pack, everything is about pride and rank. If you fail to do as you're told you're demoted and the same is if you fail to complete a task. If he refuses to fight me, that means that he's afraid to and then I automatically take his place, but if we fight and I lose." He shook his head. "It will probably mean death, exile or pretty much slavery for me and that all depends on how he's feeling towards me," he said looking around at us.

Edward nodded, "Don't worry; if you lose we'll help."

Emeric shook his head, "It doesn't work that way. Just let me deal with my brother."

Carlisle nodded, "The rest of us will deal with Randle and Kari's father. Do you know if it'll be only them coming?" Carlisle asked me.

I shook my head, "They're bringing Erasers as well."

"How many are coming?" Emmett asked, as if it was no challenge.

"50, not including Randle," I said to Emmett.

His laughter bombed around the kitchen, "Let them come. We'll finish them no problem." The rest of us nodded. It was probably true. We could take them down easily.

"Be warned though," Emeric said, "If I lose, that means our pack will attack and no offense, but I'm pretty good at taking your kind down. Do me a favour if that happens: injure me enough that I won't be able to attack." The Cullens nodded gravely.

I looked up at the top of the stairs, "Max is awake," I whispered.

**(Max's POV)**

I took a deep breath as I walked downstairs. As soon as I came into view everyone was looking at me. I was completely silent, my eyes going straight ahead. I took another deep breath and I looked over to see Edward and Angel staring at me with an upset expression and Jasper looking pained. "I assume you guys know what happened to Fang," I said sounding oddly detached.

They all nodded, "How did you know? I thought we'd have to tell you and you'd go berserk," Emmett said, looking confused.

"The voice told me," I said quietly. The flock nodded as if expecting that.

"The voice?" Rosalie asked looking at me like I was mental, which I probably was.

"I have a voice in my head that tells me things, and they're usually things I don't want to know," I said shrugging, "I think it's from the school somehow, but it's really strange because it knows things and they're always true."

The flock nodded, "Yep, Max is kind of weird that way," Iggy said nodding. I gave him a look.

Alice suddenly looked at the door, "They're here," she whispered.

We all started for the door, I was afraid to see Fang. I would not be able to look into his lifeless eyes.

I heard a car pull up and I closed my eyes. I felt a hand on my shoulder; I opened them to see Iggy. "Don't worry, if you want, I'll deal with Fang."

I shook my head, "No, I'll deal with it when the time comes."

We headed outside and I swallowed as 9 wolves ran out from the trees and Randle started to get out of the car. Kari's dad got out the car next and I saw her tense. I could see Iggy whispering reassuringly to her.

I waited for Fang to open the back door. "Get out of the car," Randle said as he slammed the door. "Stupid, brain dead idiot," I heard Randle mumble.

I watched as the car door opened and he stepped out. His eyes were oddly vacant and I swallowed. His eyes traveled over us without the slightest hint of interest. He followed Randle and stood a step behind him.

I saw Alice take in a sharp breath. "Fang," she whispered as if the word escaped her mouth involuntarily.

He looked at her; his eyes were not cold or happy, just vacant. "Alice," he said, his voice not monotone, just… I couldn't even describe it. It was like he was just acknowledging her presence.

I felt tears in my eyes. I forced them back; I would not give them the satisfaction.

A tall man with dark hair and eyes immerged from the trees after the wolves and glared at Emeric, "Emeric, come here right now."

Emeric cringed slightly, "No, Blaine."

Blaine glared at him and the two looked ready to fight each other. "If you lose, I'll make you kill them," he said darkly.

"When you lose, I'm going to snap your neck," Emeric growled.

"Shall we do this the easy way?" Randle started, "The flock gives themselves up, Michael gets Kari and the wolves get the Cullens," he said, cutting in, as if this was a done deal.

Emmett laughter bombed in the tense silence. "I don't think so," I growled as Kari cast her father a look of pure fear and Rosalie snorted and said, "As if."

Randle shook his head, "Fine… have it your way." He said and whistled. Erasers started coming out from everywhere. Emeric and Blaine threw themselves at each other, the two turning into wolves in mid-air. They started fighting, I had no time to watch how that went because Randle looked at Fang and said, "Fang, kill your girlfriend."

I gulped as Fang looked at me and started towards me without a second thought. Iggy looked at me and I shouted, "Flock, take care of the Erasers!"

The Cullens and the Pack were attacking the Erasers and Blaine's pack.

Kari looked worried and I yelled, "Iggy and Angel protect Kari, Jim, Casey and Lilith."

Right then Fang reached me and he pulled back a fist. I quickly dodged.

**Max, you must convince him that he'll have a better chance surviving with the flock instead of the school**, the voice said.

"Fang, listen to me," I begged. He got me the shoulder when I was too slow. I backed out of the way of a roundhouse kick. "Fang, please, don't do this. You'll lose this way. Don't you see?" I asked him and dodged again.

His face was a mask of no emotion and he kept trying to hit me. "I have greater survival chances with the school," his voice was like a knife in my heart. It held nothing that showed that he was feeling anything for me.

"No you don't!" I yelled, shocked and hurt. "Fang listen to me!" I yelled ducking from a punch.

"If you will not fight, flight is your only option," Fang said in the same tone as before.

I ignored his comment. I suddenly tackled him to the ground and I held him to the ground, "Fang, at the school they will experiment on you and torture you. With us you won't and we'll take care of you. Don't do this! Don't you remember anything about how you used to feel?"

Fang rolled us over, he was on top now and he punched me, "Yes, past knowledge tells me that I trusted you and loved you."

I rolled us over and restrained the want to punch him back. He was so infuriating right now, but I had to remember that he wasn't my enemy. I loved him, I could never hurt him. "And what do you feel for the school?"

"Nothing," He said instantly.

"I mean before," I said using all my strength to keep him on the ground and make sure he didn't roll us over again.

"Hatred, anger, depression," he said and winced at the look in his eyes. They were dead; he felt nothing now about those years.

"So why would you help them now?" I asked him, "Why would you help them when you know that you'll survive better with us?"

He stared at me for a minute before he stopped struggling. I heard a high pitched scream and I looked up to see Randle approaching Lilith. Iggy and Angel had their hands full at the moment and couldn't help her. "Fang!" Lilith screamed automatically, "Fang, help me!"

Suddenly, Fang pushed me off him and I waited for him to punch me but he didn't I watched as he got up and walked over to Lilith and Randle.

Lilith saw him and her face lit up. I watched as Flag reached back a fist and punched Randle.

"What are you doing? Go kill Max!" Randle yelled.

I jumped up and started over. "My survival chances are higher with the flock," Fang said almost monotonously. He reached back another fist and punched Randle. "I made a promise. I must keep that promise," he said in monotone.

"What promise?" Randle growled trying to punch Fang but he dodged.

"I promised Lilith that I would die before you got her," Fang said in monotone.

Lilith and I stared at him in shock. Fang continued to fight Randle and I saw Alice stop for a few seconds, a smile on her face before she went back to fighting.

**(Iggy's POV)**

I kept an eye on Max and Fang's fight. I was ready to jump in whenever if she needed me, but right now I needed to protect Kari. Her dad was making his way towards us.

He glared at me, "Give me my daughter."

"Come and get her," I growled, I put my arms out protectively to shield her.

He smirked, "Okay," he said and started to pull out a gun. My eyes widened and Kari let out a squeak of fear.

In a blurred flash, Bella ran by and she stopped a few steps away and smirked. She held the gun between her right thumb and forefinger and then she disappeared in a blur again.

Kari's father glared at me and started towards me. I growled and started forward. We both reached back fists and shot them forward. I got him in the stomach and he got me the chest. He stumbled back and I shook it off. Humans were weak. I quickly swept under his feet with my leg and he went down. I smirked down at him. "Ever fought an enhanced bird kid before? I doubt it, and if you had you'd know that we're stronger than the average grown man."

He glared up at me and started to get up. I put a foot on his chest, "Listen to me very, very closely. You will not step near me, my family or Kari _ever_ again. You will get up and walk away, _right now_ and you will _not_ come back. Kari is 18 and she's legally an adult and she does _not_ under _any_ circumstance have to _ever _see you again. If I _ever_ see you again, or if Kari ever sees you again, make no mistake. _I will kill you_. Do I make myself clear?" I said down at him in the fiercest voice I could muster up.

He actually gulped and looked frightened. He nodded, "Good, now get the hell out of here," I growled and released my foot. I watched him get up and start to walk away.

I went over to Kari, "If you see him again, tell me and I'll deal with him."

She nodded quickly. "That was amazing," she whispered.

I actually blushed, "Thanks, that was terrifying," I muttered and she laughed.

She suddenly screamed and pointed behind me. I turned and saw an Eraser starting towards me. I swore under my breath and yelled for Gazzy. He was at my side in an instant. "We need to hit the middle of the group," I said pulling bomb parts quickly from my pockets. "Get me some bleach," I said before shooting my hand up, breaking the Erasers nose as it got near me. I spun and elbowed him quickly in the gut and stuck a small bomb to his chest. I quickly ran to Kari and held Kari so she couldn't see.

There was a small explosion and rather large shriek and Kari shuddered in my arms. Gazzy came back with a rather large bottle of bleach and I grinned. "Now we'll do some damage."

**(Emeric's POV)**

The two of us flung ourselves at each other. I changed in mid-air and he did too. For the first instant there was a lot of biting and scratching, and then we separated.

I heard the thoughts of my brothers and they were curious as to how this was going to turn out. I knew that quite a few of them were not exactly happy with Blaine's rule, and they saw this as their only opportunity for voice that.

Five of the nine wolves immediately were behind me, showing that they were on my side. The others followed Blaine's orders and went after the Cullens, but I knew that the Cullens could handle themselves.

I just had to beat him and then we'd be good. I growled low in my throat and snapped at him. He growled and I knew he hated me right now.

Good, because I wasn't about to let what happened last time stop me this time. I lunged for his throat and got his shoulder. I bit and tore and scampered back. I saw his shoulder covered in blood, but he just shook it off.

I glanced over and saw Fang and Max fighting. The anger that followed fuelled my fight. How could Blaine turn Fang into that? Fang, who was the single most amazing person I'd ever known.

I felt a sharp pain in my side and let out a howl of pain as I turned and glared at my brother. I lunged again, this time my teeth got around his neck and we rolled. I continued to hold on to his throat and I could taste blood in my mouth. Blaine was scratching and kicking me with his feet, desperate to get me to release.

_Give up Blaine and I'll spare your life,_ I thought. Giving him one last option before I ended this.

_You're too weak to kill me Emeric. You'll never kill me._ Blaine thought back.

In an instant, I snapped his neck and I pushed his body away. _Guys?_ I asked.

I heard 9 voices think _Yes?_

_Stop attacking the Cullens… kill the Erasers._ I said, feeling happy for once. I'd beaten my brother, and although I wasn't happy he was dead, at least I knew he couldn't stop me or this pack anymore.

_Which are those?_ Kale, the youngest of us asked.

_The creepy wolf things… anything that's not the pack and not the Cullens and not the bird kids, _I answered calmly. Kale was a good kid, strange, but good.

I heard various levels of agreement as the wolves turned their attention away from the Cullens. I looked over at the Cullens and the Pack. I noticed them smiling at us.

**(Max's POV)**

I sighed as the Erasers started to retreat, Randle included. I quickly ran though head counts and people. Everyone was here, including Fang. I made sure. I ran over to him and hugged him, even though he felt nothing, it was good to have him on our side. I pulled away and looked up at him. I held his face in my heads. "If you can hear me in there, I'm really glad you're back," I said to the true Fang, who I knew was lurking in there somewhere.

"I can hear you," was Fang's brilliant answer.

I rolled my eyes; I should have known he'd say something like that.

We were suddenly bombarded by the flock, who was hugging Fang, saying how happy they were that he was back. He just stood there with a dazed look.

"Is he all weird still?" Nudge asked poking his arm.

"Ya, I think so," I whispered and Lilith hugged his legs.

"Thank you for saving me, Fang," Lilith muttered quietly.

Fang's head moved since the beginning of us hugging him. He looked down at her and picked her up. "You're welcome," he said holding her to his chest.

I frowned, _how come he did that?_ I wondered.

**Well just because he has no emotions doesn't mean he isn't a slave to a little impulse.** The voice said, **Think about it, when you see someone small and defenceless, what do you do? Protect them. To Fang, Lilith is the tiniest, most defenceless thing he knows. She's like his little sister, and in nature the adult always protects the child. When Lilith is in danger or upset, it makes him act to protect her. It's just nature. **

_But isn't it emotion that makes him feel that way? Isn't it emotions that trigger that impulse?_ I asked feeling confused.

**Yes and no. Yes, it's emotions that make us feel that way, but it is purely psychological nature that makes the stronger defend the weak.** The voice said, **plus his emotions aren't really gone, merely repressed. You must now figure out how to resurface them. They were slowly resurface, but it'll take a while.**

I nodded, "Make sense…."

"What makes sense?" Emmett asked walking over.

I shook me head, "Well according to the voice, Fang's emotions are repressed and if we want to get them back we have to resurface them… or wait till they come back."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Gazzy asked in confusion.

Suddenly I got an idea and I looked at Jasper, everyone else slowly looked at him. He looked at us for a second in worry. "Okay, guys, let's not get ahead of ourselves… this might not work… I mean… his emotions… they're not even there. I don't know if it'll work."

"Just try it," Alice said and I watched as the two looked at each other, begging in Alice's eyes and uncertainty in Jasper's.

"Okay," Jasper said and looked at Fang with a slightly pained expression. Fang placed Lilith back on the ground. After a few minutes the two of them suddenly cried out in pain. Jasper stumbled back holding his head and Fang literally crumbled to the ground holding his head and groaning.

"Did it work?" Emmett asked a curious light in his eyes. "He's in pain, isn't that an emotion?"

"No, pain is purely nerves reacting, but I think it might have lessened it a little," Edward said looking at Jasper.

Jasper shook out his head, "Man, that was weird… it's like it just shot me out of there."

Carlisle shook his head, "Let's bring him inside."

I took Fang's hand and helped him up. I helped him inside and sat him down on the couch. He stared straight ahead and I sighed.

We all gathered around there, including Emeric's pack. "Maybe you should start small? Help him identity which emotions he should feel for things," a young boy from Emeric's pack said.

Emeric nodded, "Nice Kale, you've been reading again haven't you?" Emeric asked with a smile and the boy blushed slightly.

Carlisle nodded, "That could work."

I didn't feel too hopeful. Then I got an idea, "Fang, lets say Lilith falls and scraps her knees. How do you feel?"

Fang looked at me for a full five minutes, "I… I don't understand the question."

I sighed, "Okay, Lilith falls and scraps her knees… right?" I said and he nodded. "She starts crying because it hurts… what do you do?"

Fang stared at me for a second, "I help her up."

"Why?" I asked staring him in the eyes.

He stared at me, he blinked a few times, "I don't know, it's just natural impulse."

I felt like strangling him. "I know, I know, but how does it make you feel?"

He blinked some more, "Past knowledge tells me I should be upset and I should be worried about her."

Now I really wanted to strangle him, "You are infuriating," I said glaring at him.

He stared at me blankly. "Maybe we should try another approach," Alice said, "We should make him cope with a situation he's never been in."

We all looked at her, "What situation would that be?"

We were all silent for a while. Jim looked up, a light in his eyes. It was quickly was gone and he sighed, "Well, I've got to go." He said walking towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Emmett asked.

He looked awkward for a second, "I've got to pack."

"For what?" Bella asked looking confused.

Jim smiled slightly, "Well, I got a job and an apartment in Seattle, I'm leaving tomorrow." Fang looked at him but said nothing.

"Well that's great; you're getting out of Forks. Good for you," Alice said nodding and smiling a little.

"Ya, I know, thanks," Jim said smiling slightly and Casey looked in shock. Her eyes were a little wide and she was staring at the ground and if I had to say so I'd say she looked a little green.

Jim nodded and said bye and left out the front door. The instant the door closed Casey was up and out the door after him.

I wondered what was going on, but I ignored it. There was no way I could deal with all this and my mind wouldn't explode.

"Max, why don't you go upstairs and go to sleep," Alice said patting my shoulder. I looked at Fang; his eyes were glazed over, staring at the same spot on the carpet.

I felt like crying right there. I didn't know what to do in this situation. I nodded and got up.

I was opening my door when I realized that Fang was right behind me. I physically jumped from surprise. "Jeez, Fang, you scared the crap out of me."

He stared at me for a moment, "Sorry," He finally said.

I raised an eyebrow at him, "You're sorry? For what are you sorry for exactly?"

He stared at me, his head slightly cocked to the side. "I frightened you, am I not supposed to apologize."

"No, you surprised me," I said being defensive, "And yes, you should apologize. Thank you," I said feeling a little surprised, "but you should only apologize if you're sorry for what you did. Since you can't feel sorry the apology is meaningless." I said, trying to explain to him.

He nodded a little, "I understand, but I wasn't talking about now. I meant when we arrived."

I swallowed. I hate how he knew me so well. I nodded, "Yes, you did a little." I told him honestly.

Fang stared at me for a while. He clearly he didn't know what to do. "I would apologize, but you told me not to unless I meant it."

I smiled a little, "It's okay; at least you can tell how other people feel." I stared at him after a second I put my hands on his shoulders and kissed him. He stayed there like a statue. I pulled away after a second or two and looked up at him. "Do you feel… anything?" I asked desperately.

He just stood there for a second, "I know that I should…," he said staring down and me. I nodded and looked at the ground.

He stood there for a second; I cleared my throat, "Well, goodnight." I said and he nodded like he realized it was his time to leave. "Why don't you go to sleep, maybe you'll feel a little better in the morning?"

He nodded and went to his room and I waited for him to close the door.

I took a deep breath. I felt the whole world had just fallen apart. Fang felt nothing for me and I felt like my heart was breaking. Never in my entire life had I felt like I'd been torn apart like this.

I turned and went into my room, I closed the door and sunk slowly to the floor and put my head in my hands and started to sob.

**A/N: Sad, I know, but he's back! Yay... and um... -clears throat- remember... that uh... Sumblinial Message... -cough-review-cough-**


	9. Hell's Fire

**Hey people****, I survived dental surgery... yayyy! I had my wisdom teeth removed... and I'm only freaking 15! I also got four other teeth removed because apparently my jaw isn't big enough for all my teeth or some weirdness and I have to get braces soon. I forget which fanfic I told before... so I'm telling all of them now! Well here is my Christmas/New Years/Sorry, it's back to school present to you all. I may be a little late, but hey, whoever accused me of being on time is a liar and should be hunted down and fed blue potatoes!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing you've heard before, basically Twilight Characters and Maximum Ride Characters and like... anything else.**

**Claimer: I own the plot and all original Characters.**

**Have fun and inform me if there is any mistakes that my beta and I missed.**

**Read Away!**

**Chapter 9**

**(Fang's POV)**

The world burned in a haze of fire and I stood in the middle of it. Screams of those who were suffering were around me and tears poured from the boy in front of me. Whether it was a dream or truly hell, the suffering didn't affect me, only the emotional Fang was suffering.

Emotional Fang knelt, chained loosely to the floor. He knelt there, covered in the cuts made by his lies, his guilt. Emotional Fang bled and suffered where he knelt and there was nothing here to stop it. He cried, "How could you?" he yelled, "How could you hurt Max? How can you not feel anything for them?"

I stood, watching him with neither cold nor angry eyes. "I feel nothing for your family. They are merely helping me survive."

"That's bull! You need them! You love them! You have to," he yelled, his voice thick with begging. He reached for me, "Mark my words, when I am released you will never, ever resurface to hurt Max like that again," he growled.

I stood just out of his reach, his fingers inches from my jeans, "That will never happen."

"Yes it will! Every day I get closer to being myself again. I will come back; I will be released from this hell. I will live again!" he yelled.

I started to turn away, looking down at him without interest, "You are dead, emotional Fang, and you will stay here, in the afterlife, in hell, forever."

He yelled in fury before I turned and walked out of emotional Fang's one true hell. He was unable to do anything to change the situation and I was hurting Max and his family without even trying.

**(Angel's POV)**

I wiped my eyes for the final time and walked upstairs for bed. I'd been upset for the last few hours because of what everyone was thinking; they were all worrying about when Fang would be back to his normal self.

I took a deep breath and more tears fell from my eyes as I could hear Max crying. Her mind was consumed with thoughts of Fang no longer loving her. I frowned; I so badly wanted her to know that he did love her. It was just under all that emotionless mush.

I looked at Fang's door and I listened to his dreams. I always knew Fang had horrific dreams sometimes, so when he was asleep I tried not to think about what was going on in there. He never talked about them, so I never said anything, but I knew. Even though he was always looked calm and relaxed, while he was asleep I knew his dreams were always nightmares.

I swallowed as I listened to his dream. I wanted to run in there and scream at him. The Fang I knew was in there, just very far under, and he was fighting to get free. This Fang had no feelings for us, good or bad, he could turn against us in a second and that made him dangerous.

Fang awoke from his dream, not seeming to care that the true, emotional Fang was suffering in his head. I wiped my tears away quickly as Fang immerged from the room. His eyes looked at me, seeming to register me standing here, but not caring that I was.

I walked passed him to my room. I had to figure out a way to get him to see, I had to find a way. I lay down before going to sleep and the last thought I thought that night was that I wished the real Fang had managed to get a hold of him, maybe then he'd have a chance to free himself.

**(Max's POV)**

I got up at 10. My eyes were feeling itchy from crying and I rubbed them furiously to get the sleep out of them. I walked downstairs and Fang was sitting at the kitchen table, I swallowed. I wished everything had been a dream, but I knew it wasn't.

I walked into the kitchen and he was still staring at the same spot. I went over to the fridge and got out the juice and poured myself a glass. I took a swig and made sure not to look at him.

I left the kitchen and sat in front of the TV. I drank the juice and watched the TV without really watching it.

Lilith bounced down the stairs and she went to the fridge and pulled out the huge jug of juice. She carried it over to the table and set it down. She ran over to the cupboard and got two glasses out. She poured juice into the glasses, making a little mess, and gave one to Fang, "Here, I thought you'd want some juice," she said smiling.

Fang looked at her, took the juice from her and thanked her without displaying the tiniest hint of emotion towards her.

I don't think Lilith minded, she just smiled and bounced over to me and watched TV with me.

After a few minutes there was a knock on the door I got up to get it. Jim was standing on the other side of the door with Casey. "Hey, I thought I'd just come by to say goodbye," Jim said and I nodded.

"Guys!" I called letting Casey and Jim in. "Come down here and say goodbye!" I yelled.

We all assembled in the TV room and said our goodbyes. Whatever was wrong with Casey and Jim seemed over now. Casey said that she was leaving too, and her parents were pissed, but she didn't care.

Fang watched two of his closest friends prepared to leave and he didn't say a word.

Casey asked if she could talk to me upstairs and so I nodded and followed her. She sat down on my bed and I smiled at her, "What's up?" I asked.

"Well, I just wanted you guys to know how happy Jim and I are to have gotten to know you guys. I knew we're leaving at the worst time, but Jim's wanted to get out of here since fifth grade apparently and now he can." She looked down, "I'm sorry for running out of here yesterday. It's just… I didn't know he was moving and I kind of overreacted. We worked it out though, obviously. Anyways, I just wanted to say that I am so glad I got to know you guys. We'll visit you guys and everything, but my parents are being so obnoxious about Jim and Jim wants to get out of here so the only logical solution is to leave."

I smiled at Casey, she was a good friend. I sat and put my arm around her shoulders. "Casey, you and Jim do whatever you need to do to make life the way you want it," I said seriously.

She smiled, "Hey, here's the address to our new apartment, if you need anything, a place to stay, recruits for taking down the school, anything, just call or come down there and bang on our door till we open up," she said with a small smile.

I smiled, "Okay, thanks," I said and read it, I put it on my bedside table, "Hey, come on, I'm sure the others will want to say bye one more time."

We walked downstairs and I noticed Alice watching Fang's every move. Jim was saying his last goodbyes to Iggy and was halfway out the door. Casey bounced over and waved at us, "Bye," she said and they both left out the door.

I looked at Fang, I felt like shaking my head. I bet he didn't even say goodbye. I walked into the kitchen and didn't know what to do. I wanted to break something. I wanted my Fang back!

I suddenly heard the door open as I walked back into the room. Everyone was staring at the front door, except for Alice who was grinning. I looked around, "Where'd Fang go?" I asked looking around at all of them.

"He went out after Jim," Alice said grinning.

I bolted for the door. I threw it open and ran outside. I stared at the scene in front of me.

Jim and Casey stood beside their car, and that was normal, but Fang stood with them, hugging the two of them. The two looked surprised, their eyes wide. I walked down the steps after him. As I approached I could hear him speaking.

"I will… miss you," he said softly and I stared at him. Suddenly, Fang crumpled to the ground, holding his head, his face contorted in pain. The others came out after us and I ran over to Fang. I held him to me as he writhed in pain.

His eyes suddenly opened and he looked up at me. I looked into those brown eyes. They were now swimming with emotions. "Max," he croaked, "I love you so much, never doubt that." His eyes filled with tears. "Please, Max, don't leave me like this…. I'm trying… so hard." He suddenly cried out in pain.

"Fang," I cried out in panic. What was happening to him?

"Please… sleep… I need to sleep… I get closer…," he whispered. He suddenly moaned loudly, "Please… don't send me back to hell," he whimpered before he winced. He blinked and his eyes were back to the cold, emotionless brown.

I felt tears in my eyes. Fang was in there, trying hard to free himself. The Fang in my arms got up, stood and started back to the house without even acknowledging my presence.

I frowned at the ground. What had Fang said? Something about sleep, he gets closer… closer to what? Did he mean closer to being free? I smiled at the idea of him getting free. That's what he must have meant. He gets closer to be being free when he sleeps.

What was he talking about hell for? I was so confused.

Angel suddenly ran over to me and hugged me, "Max," She cried, "Fang… he was so close… but…" I held her to me and her tears fell onto my shirt. "In Fang's head, the real Fang… you know… the emotional one… he's chained to the ground in a valley of fire and the emotionless Fang is just out of reach, but the more he sleeps the closer he gets to reaching the emotionless Fang. I think he means that if he gets more sleep he can reach the emotionless Fang and then get rid of him and then he'll be normal," Angel said as she cried.

I breathed deeply and I nodded, that seemed to make sense. Kind of… I really hope it does.

Fang looked at her and he didn't really seem to register we were talking about him. He just stood there looking at her stupidly.

Suddenly Emmett and Jasper were both holding his arms and he looked at them and instantly started pulling on them.

"Okay… so if he just needs a lot of sleep to recover we can just keep him sedated until he's better… right?" Emmett said looking at all of us as Fang continued to struggle.

I got up, bringing Angel with me, I went over to Fang. He continued to struggle and I placed my hands on his cheeks, "Fang," I said in a soothing voice, "Relax, please, no one will hurt you."

His struggles slowed and I ran my hands through his hair for a second, "Good," I said softly and kissed his forehead.

I looked at Emmett and nodded, "I think that's how it's supposed to work… at least that's what he was trying to tell me."

Emmett and Jasper nodded and they both led Fang back to the house. I looked at Casey and Jim. I smiled slightly; I went to give them one last hug goodbye.

Jim and Casey looked at each other, "Well… I guess that is it."

"That worked so well," Casey said grinning.

I looked at them in confusion.

Angel giggled, "That was brilliant. You two really should try out for acting school."

"You guys faked the whole thing?" I practically shouted, amazed and confused.

"Well… ya… I had this idea that if I left it would make him sad and it would make him miss me…" Jim said and shrugged, "So I pretended to leave, and Casey decided that she wanted to go with me. I think it worked pretty well," he said grinning.

I grinned at them, "You guys are amazing."

"I know right?" Casey said grinning. "Sorry, we had to make you guys believe we were leaving too… we didn't know how good you guys would have acted," she said shrugging.

I laughed, "That's fine."

We went upstairs to Fang's bedroom where the others were waiting. Fang had been struggling again so they had had to strap him down to his bed. He was still struggling and I sighed, this might be harder than expected.

Carlisle came over to him, "Now Fang, I'm just going to give you a little morphine and then you'll go to sleep and hopefully when you wake up you'll be just fine."

Fang continued to struggle and I stared down at him, although he was fighting, he didn't seem angry or panicked. "You don't get it," Fang said as he pulled on his restraints. "The old Fang is never coming back… he's in my mind forever… and he's going to stay there."

It was weird hearing those words even though he was emotionless and the words held no menace or anger, I felt like those words were meant be threatening.

I decided it was better not to say anything. We all were silent as Carlisle held his arm still before giving him a shot of morphine. His eyes drooped and closed. His head fell to the side and I swallowed.

"What now?" Gazzy asked looking at us.

I took a deep breath, "We wait."

**(Emotional Fang's POV)**

Pain.

It's a one syllable word that can mean so much or so little to different people. Right now it felt like everything in my existence was based on that word.

I was chained again to the floor of this hell. The fires burned around me and I bled from the cuts caused by my lies and the guilt from those lies.

Tears fell from my eyes and I didn't have a way to stop them.

He stood out of my reach, again.

"Your family seems to think that the more time you and I are together the closer you get to freedom," he said looking at me without pity, or anger, or hate or any other emotion. "They are quite stupid. You'll never get free."

I smiled slightly, Max was smart, she'd figured out what I meant in those few minutes of freedom. The more time this imposter and I spent together the closer I got to killing him and resurfacing, it was true. At least that was my best and only hope. "You want to come a little closer and say that?" I growled, my hands turning to fists.

Emotionless Fang snorted and continued to stand out of reach. "You know what?" I said suddenly, "I think you just know that if you let me free and the two of us fight it out than I'll win."

He looked at me like he had been the whole time, without emotion. "No you won't."

"To be confident is an emotion," I said. "You're just assuming you will win because you can't feel worry, but you don't have the ego to think that you'll win," I said with a smile. "So you really don't know… we'd be evenly matched."

"If you want to have a duel of sorts, fine… but you're going to lose," he said emotionlessly.

I grinned, "I would like a 'duel of sorts' actually… so unchain me and let's do this," I said grinning like an idiot now. I was so sure I'd win, I had to. This was life and death right here.

Since this was his dream technically, and my nightmare, all he had to do was walk over and touch the chains for them to disappear. I stood and immediately tackled him to the ground.

Hey, he never said when we were starting, and he wasn't complaining anyways.

We fought and rolled through the valley of fire. He suddenly rolled us into the fire and I screamed as the flames licked my skin, but they didn't touch him.

I rolled us over and he was in the flames. He cried out in pain and threw me off him. We stood and looked at each other. He spat out some blood and we started throwing punches and kicking with the occasional dodge and duck.

We fought on and on for what seemed like hours. After forever he got me down on the ground and he looked down at me. I was bleeding all over from my cuts and from our fight. He punched me in the face and I pushed him off me. I stood and we started fighting again.

We moved as we fought and we made our way into a circle that was surrounded by spikes. The spikes were angled and sharp enough that if we fell into them they'd do some damage.

I dodged an attack and he pushed me to the ground. He ripped a spike from the ground. How he did that I have no idea, but than again, we were dreaming.

He held me down and looked at me emotionlessly and said, "So, this is the end. You are never going to see that pathetic family of yours and when I get free I'm going to kill every single one of them. Any last words?"

"Ya, I do actually. I hope you enjoy hell," I growled and shoved him hard and pulled us over.

We broke apart and stood and we started to fight again. He punched me across the face and I punched him back in the face and gave him a hard shove.

He stumbled back and I saw the ground start to crumble. Even though he was falling he showed no panic or fear. He just fell; he fell right onto the spikes.

I stared at him in shock. Although he was nothing like me, it was a weird feeling… killing yourself. It was also pretty nasty, there was all sorts of spikes poking out of him and I felt like I was going to be sick just looking at it.

I looked around this hell as the fires started to die and the spikes and emotionless Fang vanished. There was a light far off and I squinted my eyes at it.

The light was rushing towards me and I found myself with my eyes closed, lying on a bed, my arms and legs strapped down to it.

I grin broke out onto my face when I opened my eyes. I was in my room in Jake and Alison's house. Max sat in a chair beside my bed and she was fast asleep. I realized it was nearly 3 in the morning. I wanted to see her eyes so badly; I didn't care if I was going to wake her up. "Max," I whispered, "Max, wake up," I said, trying to move.

_Jeez, they really hadn't wanted me to get loose,_ I thought with a smile.

Alice was instantly in my room and I smiled at her, "Hey Alice," I said and I could feel the happiness on my face.

Alice suddenly grinned and launched herself at me, hugging me tightly. "Oh my God, I'm so happy you're okay," She said.

I smiled, "Hey, um Alice… you think you could release me please?" I asked and she laughed as she untied my arms and legs.

I sat up and hugged her again, she was freezing cold, but I didn't care. I pulled away and looked at Max as she slept.

"I'll leave you two to talk," Alice whispered and she was gone.

I threw my legs over the side of the bed and knelt crouched near the chair so we were at eye level. "Max," I whispered, taking her hand in mine. "Max, please, wake up," I whispered in her ear.

I felt her stirring from her sleep and I pulled back to see her eyes. I watched as they started to flutter and she looked me in the eyes for a second. I thought maybe she thought she was dreaming. "Fang," she said slowly.

"Oh Max," I whispered, "I missed you so much," I said hugging her tightly.

That seemed to wake her up fully. "Oh my God, Fang," She hugged me back. "I know, I missed you too," she said and I pulled back slightly.

I leaned over and kissed her warm, soft lips. I put my right hand on her cheek as I pulled away. Her face kind of leaned into my hand, as if she was trying to use it as a pillow or take up it's warmth, I wasn't sure exactly. I looked her in the eyes and said, "Max, I love you so much… never listen to a single word that's against that. It's all a lie; I need you more than air."

She smiled and kissed me, "I know, I know." She hugged me and we stayed like that.

I breathed in her scent and smiled. _It feels so good to be back,_ I thought with a grin.


	10. Trying to Save the World

**Chapter 10**

**(Fang's POV)**

The next morning when I got up Max was still sitting in that chair. Last night she had told me to get some more rest after we'd hugged and talked a little. I tried to argue with her that I wasn't tired, but I really was. So I'd slept and I had assumed that she would go back to her room, but she hadn't.

I rubbed my eyes and sat up a little, "Have you been sitting there all night?" I asked quietly.

She smiled and nodded, "You look so peaceful when you sleep… it makes me wonder what's really going on in that brain of yours."

I sat up and stretched, "Many, many horrible nightmares," I answered honestly.

She stared at me then, "Really? So the Voice was right…." She said still staring at me.

I smiled and leaned forward. I kissed her, "About what?" I asked.

"It said you get these things called 'Silent Nightmares' where you have nightmares but you don't look like it on the outside. Are they really bad?" She asked placing a hand on my cheek.

"No, because I know they're just nightmares and they'll be over soon and then I get to see your pretty face," I said smiling. It dropped slightly, "I used to have this one though… where every lie I ever said turned into a cut on my skin… that one was always kind of weird and a little freaky," I told her. I looked down, "Actually that's the only one that ever scared me… which is why it shows up the most." I said and looked her. "It's why I didn't like to talk too much. It shows up every time I lie… and I didn't want to go back… so I just didn't talk…. It worked pretty well." I said and she kissed my cheek and hugged me tightly. I hugged her back, "I think I got over it though," I said with a smile.

"Good," She said and pulled back, she kissed my cheek and then my lips. "Come on, you should have something to eat." She pulled me up and I got up.

"Okay, let me just get changed," I said and she nodded. After I changed into new clothes and met up with Max in the hallway. I held her hand as I walked downstairs.

I heard someone drop something and it made a loud shattering sound. I assume it was Iggy, because right after I heard him curse softly. "Iggy, don't swear," I heard Lilith say.

"Sorry," Ig answered automatically.

"Dude, you look really tired. Did you get any sleep?" I heard Jim ask and I looked at Max in confusion. She just shook her head at me and put a finger to her lips.

"Ya, I don't know… I wasn't able to fall asleep that well," I heard Iggy said.

Max and I were now at the bottom of the stairs and I could see Lilith sitting in the kitchen. I saw her face light up and I smiled.

She immediately bolted from the kitchen and ran over to me. She launched herself into the air, knowing perfectly well I'd catch her, which I did. I picked her up, hugging her tightly and spun her around. "Hey Lili," I whispered, grinning. "I missed you so much," I said as she squeezed the daylights out of me.

"I missed you too Fang!" She yelled with her arms around me neck.

I heard Max laughed, "Lil, Fang's starting to go blue, I think you need to let go of his neck."

She let go and I took an exaggerated breath, "Sorry Fang," She said in her little five year old voice.

"It's fine, let's go see the others," I said and I looked up to see them actually right there. Iggy, Jim, Emeric and Gazzy stood there staring at me. "Hey guys," I said smiling.

Grins broke out on their faces. Gazzy suddenly punched the air, he cheered and said, "Yes, he's not all screwed up anymore!" Gazzy held out his hand for a high five and Iggy smiled as they slapped hands.

"Well I wouldn't go that far, Fang's still pretty screwed up I think," Emeric said with a smirk.

"Ha, ha, ha, you're hilarious," I said giving him a look. Just then most of the pack and Emeric's pack bound through the living room, some of them tackled me in hugs that felt like they were going to snap me in two, congratulating me on getting better.

Emeric introduced me to a few members of his pack. The one that stuck out the most was Kale. He was the youngest, and had dirty blond hair and bright blue eyes. I was first confused by his appearance, but then I realized, Emeric's pack wasn't made up of native people. Kale was 15 at the moment and, from what Emeric said, always in a good mood. He seemed okay, and he seemed fascinated by everything.

He was a talker, but not all the time. Sometimes he was very silent. His eyes would glaze over and he'd stare off into space. Emeric said that he was thinking about stuff when he got like that.

Angel and Nudge came down at around 11. When they saw me they ran at me and I cringed, closing my eyes, waiting for the moment they tackled me. It never came; I opened my eyes to see them watching me with amused expressions. I relaxed a little and everyone who'd been watching, which was everyone, laughed. I relaxed fully and they jumped at me. They pushed me right off the couch and we crashed to the floor.

Laughter erupted around us as Nudge and Angel all got up off me. Angel bounced off to the kitchen for something and Nudge looked around at us. Her eyes paused for a second before she actually blushed (not an easily noticeable thing for her) and spun around and followed Angel.

I looked around to see what she was looking at to see Kale staring at her with wide eyes. He suddenly was across the room and following the girls into the kitchen. Max chuckled beside me. Emeric snorted and his pack burst out laughing.

Alice danced into the room and ruffled my hair, "Jacob, we're free in August."

Jacob's face slowly darkened in disgust, "I should have known you'd see that," he muttered.

"See what?" I asked glancing at Alice. She'd seen a werewolf? Was that even possible?

"I saw my schedule disappear in August, so I'm assuming they're planning something." Alice said shrugging.

Jacob sighed and Alison grinned, "Awesome! That means the Cullens will be here for the big day!" She said happily.

Jacob sighed; I could tell he was unsure if that was a good thing, but was getting over it pretty quickly. "Ya, ya, everybody, we want to forewarn you that we're planning on getting married this August."

There were cheers and clapping and congratulations all around. I smiled and Max went over and hugged Alison.

Once all the Cullens had left to go visit their house in Forks and the pack went back to whichever houses they were staying at and the flock went up to bed I leaned against the kitchen counter flipping a knife in the air and catching it repeatedly. I was doing it absentmindedly, not at all thinking about what I was doing.

Suddenly a russet hand reached out and snatched the knife from the air, only then did I realize that it would have landed on my hand blade down. "Is it some sort of unwritten rule that you aren't allowed one day without causing yourself pain?" Jacob asked shaking his head as he put away the knife.

I chuckled, "No," was my short answer.

Jacob rolled his eyes. He glanced at me warily, "Is something on your mind or are you training to be a knife juggler?"

"No, sword swallower," I said sarcastically, "I hear they pay better."

Jacob rolled his eyes again, "Sure, sure, so if you're not planning on joining the circus what's up?" He asked.

I shrugging, "Nothing, just thinking," I answered.

Jacob chuckled; "Well don't stay up too late and don't juggle anymore knifes, goodnight." Jacob nodded and vanished up the stairs.

I sighed; I pushed off the counter and headed up to bed. I couldn't shake this feeling. It was like there was something deep in my head. I was throwing the knife to see if I could freak myself out. It didn't entirely work. I was wary, I knew if I cut my skin it would hurt, and I was a little cautious and worried because of it, but not really at the same time.

I sighed as I lay down, maybe things would be a little less muddled up in the morning.

In the morning I got up and went to Max's room. She was awake already and she was tying her hair up into a pony tail.

"Max?" I asked. She looked at me and took a deep breath. She was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. She had a jacket on over top of her shirt. She had her combat boots on and she looked like she was on her way out the door.

She walked over to me. She looked me in the eyes for a long time. She leaned forward and kissed my cheek gently. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I need to save the world now. I need to keep you safe."

I felt like every muscle in my body locked down and I was unable to move. "Max," I whispered back, "Don't go. Not without me."

She looked at me with pained eyes, "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I won't risk it. You've saved me and the flock so many times. You've knowingly gone off to your death. It's time for me to repay you."

I shook my head sharply. "Max, please, you do so much for the flock. Don't leave, let me help you," I begged. I needed her; I couldn't bear the thought of her going out there alone to do this.

She looked down, "I'm sorry, take care of the flock. I don't know when I'll be back, but I promise that I will be." She whispered and brushed past me.

I felt locked in place, unable to move for the longest moment. I heard her feet on the stairs and I couldn't stand it. I turned and ran after her. She was by the door when I got there.

"Max!" I called, unable to let her leave without me. She looked back, pushing the door open. I saw the pain in her eyes, but she was trying to hide it from me.

I moved to run after her, but I felt cold arms surround me, keeping me here, "Max! No, Max, please, you can't do this alone!" I yelled after her. I struggled against whoever was holding me.

I saw a tear escape her eyes, but she just walked away, shutting the door behind her. My body hurt as I continued to struggle against the stone arms.

Finally I went limp, tears in my eyes that I was trying to contain. "I'm sorry Fang, but Max needs to do this alone," Alice whispered in my ear.

"No," I said over and over again, "She needs help. She can't do this alone."

"Yes, Fang, she can and she will. Don't worry, she'll be fine. She'll be okay. She'll come back," Alice whispered.

I felt calm roll through me, but I didn't want it. Alice pulled me over to the couch and made me sit down. I closed my eyes and watched her. I didn't care how long she'd be away; I was going to watch her forever if I had to.

Alice's stone arms fell away and she said that she was going to get me breakfast. I heard someone sit down and it interrupted me from watching Max fly towards her doom.

"So… she's really gone," Iggy muttered.

"You knew didn't you," I said looking at him.

Iggy shook his head, "I knew the Voice was telling her to go and save the world. I knew that the Voice was using you as leverage to get her to leave, but I didn't know that she'd go alone like this."

I stared at him for a moment, "Using me as leverage? What do you mean?"

Iggy frowned, "She said that you had knowledge of this project, Careo Gaudium or something or other. Anyways, the Voice said that if she didn't end the project and destroy the school and stuff then they'd keep hunting you and they'd never leave you alone and when they got you they'd torture you and stuff. I guess she just finally gave in and is now just going to do it."

I shook my head, "If I have knowledge of the project that she needs then why wouldn't she bring me along?" I asked, as if Iggy knew everything going on in Max's head.

"She didn't want you to get caught," I heard Edward say and I looked up to see him standing against the wall. "This way she doesn't have to worry about you getting caught or anything. Now she can just do it and come back home."

I growled low in my throat, "It's never that easy."

Edward shook his head, "It's probably not, but she'd rather do this herself than get you mixed up in it again."

I shook my head, "It doesn't matter if I get mixed up in it again. I'd rather I get messed up in this than for Max to die fighting this."

Bella walked into the room and glanced at Edward, there was something in her eyes that I didn't understand. Edward glanced at her and I knew he knew that look. "Bella," Edward warned. Whatever she was up to he seemed to be very disapproving of it.

"What?" Bella asked him innocently.

"Hey, Fang, want to come to the store with me?" Alison asked and I looked up at her.

"Sure," I said instantly and got up.

Iggy gave me and a suspicious look, "Me too, I'm going as well."

"I'm going as well!" I heard Kari call as she ran down the stairs.

"Let's go, let's go," Alison said sounding rushed and we all rushed outside.

I watched Bella walk out the back door and we all piled into Alison's car. Bella climbed in the other side, "Go, go, go!" Bella whispered.

Alison took off down the road and I looked at them with a slight smile, "What are you guys up to?" I asked them.

"Okay, this is total crap, Max is totally going to get herself killed going by herself. So I'm going after her," Alison said. I saw her smiling in the rear-view mirror. "Anyone who wants to join me can," Alison added.

"I'm so going," I said and glanced at Bella.

"I'm going as well," Bella said. When I gave her a questioning look she said. "Look, I know what it's like to be left behind in a fight. It's much worse waiting around for it to be over than to help. You won't be able to function until it over. Plus it's not like I can't help defend you guys against pretty much everything."

Kari smiled, "I'm so helping," She said and Iggy looked disapproving, "Don't even start with me Iggy."

"I guess you know what I'm doing then," Iggy said with a smile. "What about the rest of the flock?" He asked.

"They should be fine with Jacob and the Cullens." I said, "Should we get them to come as well?"

Bella shook her head, "Knowing your great aunt she already saw this and she's rallying the forces as we speak. Step on it Alison." She said and Alison grinned as she turned on the speed.

"I suggest we ditch the van and go from there," Iggy added. "I'll carry Kari if you carry Alison Bella."

Bella nodded, "Let's go, Edward is going to be so mad anyways," she added.

"So is Jacob," Alison giggled, "Oh man, this is going to be so fun."

"You have no idea what you three have gotten into," I muttered as the car pulled over to stop. Iggy and I immediately jumped out and I threw myself into the air. Iggy picked up Kari and took off in a second. Bella scooped Alison up and took off running with her.

I flew hard, keeping tabs on the others. Bella and Alison were fine. Iggy and Kari were fine. Iggy was flying lower than normal but that I was to be expected. Alice, Edward, Emmett, Jasper, Jacob, Seth, a few others from Sam's pack, Emeric and his pack had all started to follow Bella but they were incredibly behind.

The flock was flying after us, and that caught my attention. I told Iggy to keep following the flight path and I flew back to get them.

They were flying above Alice and Edward and all of them. They were keeping with the flock, which is why they were behind, but they needed the flock to help them when they got to the school.

When they caught sight of me Gazzy, Angel and Nudge all waved and I could tell they were surprised to see me. I flew up to them, "Come on, Max is almost there and Iggy and the others are close behind her."

They nodded, "Edward wants to talk to you," Angel said and I sighed, "Tell him that he can kill me later, we've got to stop Max. She doesn't know what she's getting herself into."

They others nodded we flew faster. I kept with them, but they seemed to be matching whatever speed I set. I set my speed at their fast, which was more like my fast medium.

I could see Iggy on the horizon. "Shiitake, Iggy!" I yelled but he was too far off. "Hold on guys, I'm just going to try and catch up with him," I said and went my fastest.

I slowly caught up with him, "Iggy!" I yelled when I was close enough and he turned. "The others are close, what do you want to do?" I asked.

It was Kari who answered me, "Maybe we should see what they have to say? Maybe things have changed since we left."

I frowned, "Maybe," I said and checked up on Max.

She was near the school. I wasn't sure what her plan was but she looked kind of tense. It was like she was ready for whatever happened.

Suddenly she burst forward and ran towards the school, I heard bullets wiz by her and then I saw one contact her left shoulder and she spun slightly.

I felt like someone just stabbed me in the heart as she fell to the ground. She tried to get up, but then Randle was in front of her. "Well, well, well, looks like we have our bait," he said with a grin.

She glared at him and punched him right in the… groin area. Randle's face went purple and he slapped her. She was knocked unconscious.

When I was back I was screaming. I was falling. I could feel the wind around me, but I felt weak. I tried to beat my wings, but nothing worked.

Iggy was in front of me, diving, and he looked torn. He couldn't catch me while holding Kari. He was diving after me with her in his arms. "Kari, grab him!" He shouted. Her fingers reached for my shirt. "Shit," I heard Iggy say, he started to pull up.

I looked at the ground below me. All I saw was a vast space of blue, water. It was rushing towards me at an alarming rate. I closed my eyes and prayed that this wouldn't hurt that much. I had no such luck.


	11. The Last ChapterEpilogue

**Chapter 11 – Last Chapter/Epilogue.**

**(Emeric's POV)**

I ran as fast as I could. I could see a dark angel falling in the distance. There was only one of those. I burst through the trees to see his back hit the water. A scream was ripped from his throat but it was quickly silenced as he slipped beneath the waves.

I changed midair and dove into the water. As I swam towards where Fang had landed I could see him sinking in the water. Air was slowly escaping from his nose and mouth. I reached out and grabbed his hand. I worked hard to pull him to the surface.

As my head broke the surface I took a huge gasp of air. I pulled him above the water and made my way to the shore. Pushing the unconscious boy onto the shore I checked to see if he was breathing. He wasn't so I breathed into his mouth twice. I swept my wet hair out of my face and started pressing on his chest like I had learnt when I passed as a life guard as a teen. Fang's head fell to the side and water trickled out. I breathed into his mouth again and he gave a cough and more water came up.

I saw the shadow of Iggy flying above but I ignored him in favour of Fang. "Wake the bloody hell up Fang!" I shouted at him continuing to do CPR. He gave more coughs as the Cullens showed up. Carlisle pushed me out of the way and repeated my process a few times and Fang's eyes finally fluttered and he gazed up at the sky before letting out one of the loudest screeches I've ever heard.

His back arched off the ground and Alice was at his side in less than a second, lifting him off the ground. His cries quieted and he seemed to go boneless in Alice's arms. That's when I noticed his wings. They looked pretty much crushed and he sobbed against Alice, "Oh fuck, it hurts," he ground out.

Alice gave Carlisle a worried look, "What should we do?" she asked looking somewhat heartbroken. This was exactly why I couldn't hurt these vampires. They actually cared for people, loved them.

Fang suddenly seemed to grit his teeth and pull away, "Must get to Max," he growled, "She's hurt."

Carlisle frowned, "Alright, we need to end this, we go in, destroy the place, get Max back and I'll take Fang and get him medical attention for his wings," Carlisle said taking Fang from Alice.

"Like hell you will," Fang growled, "I need to save her."

Carlisle gave Fang a stern look, "Not in this condition. I'll give you a sedative if I have to." Fang continued to struggle to Carlisle sighed and looked at Alice who nodded. He stood up and took off into the forest with Fang. Fang was going to be one pissed off bird boy by the end of this.

We took off for the school. We had to get Max back, if we didn't Fang would never forgive us.

**(Fang's POV)**

I felt more than saw the needle pierce my skin, I tried to thrash away from Carlisle but Esme held me to the bed back at the house. I growled up at her hatefully and I could tell from her heartbroken expression that she hated to do it but had to. I felt myself drifting to sleep and I let my growls slowly die on my lips.

In my sleep I dreamed, I saw everything, I watched the Cullen, the flock and the wolves infiltrate the school and I felt a pang and not being able to be there, but I saw the danger there and knew that if I had come I would have been a liability, not an asset. Emeric, Iggy and Kari found Max and got her out of her cage and she had minimal damage to her. The Cullens and wolves had gone through and killed all the Whitecoats and Erasers in the building and the flock had set loose as many experiments as possible. I watched with some satisfaction as Alice killed Randle. I couldn't help it, the monster had been a thorn in my side for so long. In the end they had stood outside the building and watched it burn, watching to make sure no one left the building.

As they flew off into the sunset I felt a resounding feeling of a door closing on the past. Chaos no longer reigned. We were not longer flying by life at breakneck speed. The world had slowed, calm had risen, and the world had plunged into the darkness of my dreams. Peace settled, and I slept.

_**10 years later**_

The thunderous applause sounded as Jim and I bowed. I smiled, trying to separate the sounds of those I knew from the sounds of the audience. We straightened and the two of us left the stage, grinning as Casey and Max enveloped us with hugs. "Gosh, you two did a great job, I'm so proud of you guys!" Casey exclaimed smiling.

"Good job, once again," Max complemented with a smile, her hand holding onto the 6 year old beside her.

The little girl with dark brown hair and brown eyes grinned up at me, "Good job Daddy!" she called reaching up to me, and I pulled her up into a hug, kissing her cheek and thanking her.

Lilith stood back a tiny bit, grinning at me in a subtle way only 15-year-old girls could. She was under my custody as my sister, but she was really almost like my first daughter. I set down my daughter and hugged her tightly. "Good job Fang," she murmured, "Can I go to the party on the 17th, _please_?" She whispered, giving me a pleading look, knowing I was sooner to cave than Max, as she pulled away, just causing me to chuckle. She had become quite the hell raiser in her recent years.

Jim and I had been doing these small productions for years now, doing a range of acting and directing them between our bigger projects. We did documentaries now, starting with one about the school and then going on from there. We had done a few, ranging on different topics of distress in the world.

My wings had recovered from the fall I had taken. Granted, it took a few years, but they had recovered to the point where I could fly. They frequently were used in my performances on stage and the opening shot of our documentary about the School had been a slow close up shot of my (at the time) healing wings.

Jim and Casey were the first of us all to get married; almost 10 months after the school was burnt down they met at the altar and exchanged vows. They have had one kid since then, a boy the same age as our daughter. Casey works now as a kindergarten teacher in Seattle, where Jim, Casey, Max and I live.

Max had become a cop, moving slowly up in the ranks over the years, it seemed she just couldn't keep herself out of the crime fighting scene, and the mother of our child. Nudge moved to Silicon Valley where she become involved with programming for several computer companies, Gazzy and Angel were going to college our east, still trying to figure out what they wanted to do, Iggy and Kari travel with the Cullens, Iggy finished his schooling to become a doctor and worked under Carlisle as his assistant. Kari worked for a company based online, allowing her to live anywhere and maintain her job.

Jacob and Alison had a beautiful wedding and now have two little boys. Emeric and Jacob's pack merged to form one and the two once different packs worked in almost perfect harmony with the Cullens (when they'd been around each other).

Alice came towards me after I had hugged my family and she swept me into a tight hug. I squeezed her back, "Thanks for coming Alice."

"Wouldn't have missed this one for the world," she replied, "The others are waiting, we were wondering if you guys wanted to get take out and hang out?" she asked grinning slightly.

I smiled, glancing over at Jim and Casey who were hugging each other and their son and Max and my daughter who stood together smiling, I grinned at Alice, "Sure, just let me check with them." It was not long before we all left together for the Cullen's hotel. We had decided to walk because it wasn't far, and in the cold night air, I held my daughter's and my wife's hands, Lilith and Alice catching up, talking excitedly, feeling the cool peace set upon the world. A gentle hum of peace was in the air.

**I hope you all have enjoyed these fics. I am sorry I haven't been able to put as much commitment into them as I have in the past. Needless to say, life catches us all up sometime; it appeared it was my time to take a wayward journey. I won't bore you with the details, but this last year and a while have had to be the most interesting, intense, beautiful, tragic, chaotic and hilarious time of my life, and I hope and pray it just gets better from here.**

**I know it was short. I know it was rushed, and usually I would consider it lame. There was no action or real excitement in the writing of the destruction of the School. The reason for this is simply that I had made Fang so emotionally invested in Max, the School and Randle, that what I wanted in the end (besides the completion of this fic) was a reality that sometimes you're not there to help the people you love, sometimes you aren't there in the end for your victory, and sometimes that is completely okay. Fang lived (as seen the 10 years later), he and the flock live past the time when school controlled them, and they were finally at peace. I know this doesn't come out as coherently as it could have, sorry.**

**I can't say I'll be that writer who is on time with long chapters and a cheery ending all the time, but this time, though all the crap I put the flock and the characters of twilight and my OCs through, they have taken the bad and the good and pulled through, and that has been what I have been trying to say though my writing all along. Ha, anyone who says I didn't put Fang through hell hasn't read my fanfic, and I hope you saw what I was meaning to say. No matter what, you can pull through. Thanks for reading and I hope you feel inspired (even if it's just a little bit….)**


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